


Raging Tides of Aquas

by This_is_getting_out_of_hand



Series: Tales of Lylat [2]
Category: Star Fox Series
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Fighting, Love, M/M, Political Alliances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-11-23 06:54:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 51,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20887943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/This_is_getting_out_of_hand/pseuds/This_is_getting_out_of_hand
Summary: With Hidden Agendas rising, suspicions increasing and a political war possible on the brisk of starting, Star Fox and Star Wolf are pushed to their limit.





	1. I

_"That is why I have suspicions. You see Aquas has been a planet that has been free from the political climate, and debate for years. Venom has Dash and Katina has the Council.", General Pepper said. _

_Peppy still in his Arwing, heading to Katina to rendezvous with the rest of the gang of Star Fox. It took him a bit longer than expected, he should have been there by name, but investigations don't have the patience to wait. Peppy still focusing on flying the designated route to Katina, pondered at the thought of another way soon rising. Peppy's nose twitched at the thought of more destruction, upset him a bit. _

_"With all due respect General, even with the Corneria's peace with Venom, our insiders have reported no ill will from Dash. He is completely different from his grandfather.", Peppy responded back. He saw a lot of good in that kid. A kid who was experienced to war so early on, earlier than Fox. Yet he still walked with a smile on his face. _

_"I know....but still Andross's blood still course through his veins. But he is not what I'm concerned about. I fear something is happening. Something big, I can't put my old nose on it.", General Pepper gave off the anxious tone in his voice. Peppy rubbed the back of his head, his chest feeling a bit tight. _

_"What would you have me do?", The hare asked. _

_"Peppy, I'm assigning you a black mission. No one can know. Not even Fox himself.", General Pepper requested. Peppy looked out into space, questioning what will happen and mentally bracing himself for what is to come. _

______________________________

"634.....635....636...", Fox counted to himself in his room. Fox was doing pushups, to help get a start on losing his little bit of excess weight he had gained. He needed to be in tip-top shape, regulate his calorie intake and mentally detox himself. Fox kept doing push-ups, up and down repeatedly. He felt his arms shaking a bit, due to the amount of stress he was putting on them. Suddenly there was knock on the door, causing Fox to lose his focus; falling straight to the floor with a thud. He rolled over with his back on the cold steel floor. His breathing was completely different as well. His lungs decreased in air consumption ever since he stopped exercising. Another couple of thuds hit the door. Fox got up slowly, to make his way toward the locked steel door. He pressed a button to open it, seeing Falco in front of it.

"What's up?", Fox asked, he put of his arms against the door frame. Falco noticed how sweaty the vulpine was.

"Fox quick, rinse yourself up, Peppy just landed. It's about goddamn time too.", Falco pointed back from the direction he walked. "I'll meet you by the front.", He gave a thumbs up and paced off. Fox went back into his quarters to quickly rinse himself in the shower, putting on his clothes making his way to the rest of the team. He made a couple of turns, finally at the front of the helipad, seeing the hare jumped out of his ship. He saw Krystal, Slippy and of course none other than Falco. Bill was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he had something to do with his work. Matter of fact, he didn't see Bill for most of the afternoon. It's like he vanished without a trace.

"Peppy! Finally, you're here!", Slippy bounced up in happiness. Since he was a toad, he bounced pretty high. It was as if he was a cartoon character from time to time, defying physics like a cartoon would. He wasn't sure when the hare would arrive, but he did just in the nick of time. Peppy greeted the team with a smile.

"Kept you waiting huh?", Slippy gave a warmhearted chuckle. "Sorry it took a while, what I needed to do, took a bit longer than I expected." Falco crosses his arms, looking deep into the hares' eyes.

"Alright old man, what was it? You never run off on us like that!", Falco demanded an answer. He was going to challenge Peppy's authority, like always. Falco was bold like that, keeping up with the hares' antics. Falco was sober and well to go toe-toe with Peppy. Peppy cleared his throat.

"Sorry Falco this one is for me, Nothing you guys should really worry about.", Peppy reassured the team. He fixed his jacket, as it shifted a bit pulling a bit on his shoulders. He pulled upwards to loosen the tightness on his shoulders. Krystal tilted her head a bit. Her body language neutral but her tail swooshed aggressively for a bit. _He's not telling the whole truth._ She thought. Fox stepped past the team, finally being able to greet Peppy once more.

"Ah Fox, good to see you again. You ready for the meeting with the council, heard they were good people, but alas I'm here to find out for myself,", Peppy giggled a bit. Fox smiled. Peppy is still kicking it and being goofy from time-to-time, yet to keep his seriousness intact. Fox patted Peppy on the shoulder. "Good to see you to Peppy!", Fox responded.

The meeting with the council was in an hour. Peppy made with enough time to relax for a bit. All that sitting made his behind a bit numb. Peppy relaxed in one of the soldier's lounges talking it up with Falco and Slippy. Peppy was laying down on one of the couches, tossing a ball he had up and down through the air. Krystal walked to Fox, she tugged at his arm. Fox looked to see Krystal's worried expression. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?", Krystal pulled Fox aside away from the rest of the squad. Fox faced Krystal pulling his arm away from her grip. "Krystal what's wrong?", Fox saw the stress in her eyes. Something wasn't right, something was up.

"I don't think Peppy was doing regular work. He's hiding something, but I'm not sure what.", Fox raised an eyebrow. "It's Peppy, I'm sure whatever he has in store, it's---", He got interrupted by Krystal.

"No, no, no Fox he's hiding something. Something big. I just can't really explain it. I'm sorry.", Krystal looked down in shame, but Fox brought her chin back up. He held her hand.

"Look, Krystal, I trust you, if Peppy is hiding something, then I'll figure it out. Eventually, he slips up one way or another.", Fox grinned making sure Krystal was at ease. "For now just relax, and try not to stress yourself out. I know with me being...who I am..I know it's been taking a toll on you.. and I--", He felt Krystal's finger hit his muzzle indicating she wanted him silent. Fox's eyes widened, his head going backwards a bit. Krystal shook her head in disagreement. She took a breath and spoke.

"Look, Fox, I know you've been having a hard time trying to figure out who you are. I know that it's not been easy for you either, your pain is greater than mine. I thought I would be the one getting the happy ending....but...I focused on myself, rather than trying to help you be comfortable with yourself. I was selfish. And for that, I'm sorry, so sorry Fox.", Krystal sniffed a bit, restraining a tear.", Fox bit his tongue for a minute before speaking.

"Yeah but I shouldn't have treated you the way I did earlier on. I'm sorry.", Krystal laughed but it was a weak one.

"I deserved it. Listen to Fox, no matter what you do, no matter what you are...know that I will always defend you. I will have your back till the end.....because that's what friends are for.",Krystal stopped speaking. She was done. She wiped one tear away. She felt so much guilt, constantly eating away at her, thinking she would never get the chance to truly apologize. She looked up to see Fox's eyes becoming red, his chest shaking a bit. "Fox I didn't mean---", she was greeted with a tight hug, that cut her off. Fox wrapped his arms around her, sniffing a bit. She returned the hug.

"Thank you Krystal...thank you..for understanding...and thank you...for being my friend.", Fox hugged her tighter. Krystal closed her eyes, feeling her mind ease bit by bit. They stood there for a while, embraced.

The two were on good terms again. Friends once more, but their bond stronger than ever.


	2. II

"Okay so explain to me this pollution thing one more time? Now that you have you're goddamn details?," Wolf asked Forda. He was losing his patience with the hyena. Then again, hyenas were always tricksters. There were so many events in history relating to dirty tricks pulled hyenas that it's been one of the most faithful stereotypes that served them well. Wolf rested his palm into one of his cheeks laying lazily on his chair. Panther was right next beside him, in another chair. Next to Panther was an empty one. One meant for Leon. They were upon the Nomad receiving the last bit of details for their mission. Just one mission and Wolf can go back to doing nothing but working out for the next few months. Forda giggled a bit.

"Now, Now Wolf, watch your tone. Okay, so your mission is to drive or exterminate a certain group of people, that have been mining in deep underwater caves or rather a huge base, in Aquas. Now, what do I mean by that specifically? This base is just a couple miles north. Near Mount Kotula. Be careful though. They are armed and dangerous, use lethal force if you have to. Return back to the bar once you've finished, to receive the other half of your payment. M will be waiting in this location. Here are your coordinates." Forda finished off with a smug grin. Wolf clenched his other hand into a fist. That smug look he wanted to punch off so badly.

Forda continued speaking." You'll need a submarine, thankfully M has one waiting for you guys." with that Forda signed off, leaving silence in the Nomads cockpit. Panther yawned.

"Well we won't be getting there till another 2 hours, we might as well relax." Panther got up, but before he could leave, Wolf stopped him.

"Panther, this doesn't seem right. He's not telling us the full context of this mission. It's not as simple as just running in guns flying. Though I wish it were that simple" Wolf sat a bit forward. Panther put his fingers up to his chin. Panther wiggled his tail back and forth.

"Well, if its to soothe your curiosity, I can ask my contacts to look into this Forda guy, even that elephant, and M.", Panther cross his arms. Wolf looked back at Panther from his seat. Panther had many connections, in and out of the Lylat Galaxy. Some good, some bad. Wolf didn't even want to ask how Panther even managed to be on everyone's good side. Wolf nodded Panther to start doing his thing. Panther smiled and walked out of the large cockpit. Wolf started to stare off into space. Seeing some shooting stars pass by, a couple of meteors, his mind slowly switch the tracks on him. He grinned when a certain Vulpine appeared on his mind. His tail moved ever so slightly. Wolf dug into his pocket, to check his phone.

Though they say thirds time the charm, it never really happened in Wolf's case.

For now

\---------------------------

Bill was waiting near the entrance to the councils' door, awaiting Star Fox's arrival. Ever since the council was formed, their ways of dealing with things weren't really discussed with him. Bill was one of the highest-ranking officers Katina has to offer, but still, the council refuses to tell him much anyway. But each council member was different from one another, and no matter what sometimes personalities clashed. Oracle dealt with war funds, finances for new equipment and battle gear. He was a cougar. He was the first person to step and even form the council. Knight was the youngest there, gifted with his ways to help Katina be a better more life-sustaining the planet. Knight was more open than the other members; To top it all off, Knight was a crow. Kind of ironic if you think about it. Morgamo was one managing the economy for Katina. He and Knight usually work side-by-side making sure Katina thrived and continue to thrive. They were the closest to each other. Morgamo was a blue fox. Though no one knows how his fur was blue. Mashima was the loud one, very brash bold to speak his mind. Mashima was in charge of maintaining peace between Venom and Katina. There was a reason Mashima barely trusted Venom. He is a cat. The smallest in terms of height. Iznah was the only female. She's a lizard. Iznah was the glue that held the council together. Her soothing voice and reasonable suggestions is what made the council what they are. Bill always wanted to be part of the council. He felt like he deserved a spot among them. Bill suggested the idea to have a 6th member making it even, but they shut it down again and again.

Bill paced back and forth, constantly looking at his watch. Just then, Bill heard multiple footsteps. He smiled, for he knew it was Fox and his teammates. Fox approached Bill greeting him with a smile. Bill put his hands up. "There you are!, I thought you guys would never even show up!", Fox can hear the relief in his voice.

"Well, we came in on time that's what matters. So do we just walk in?", Fox asked Bill. Bill nodded in response to his question, but Fox sensed he was going to say something else. "Anything else you want to add Bill?", Fox added to his question.

Bill sighed. "The council members have requested that Krystal be excluded from the meeting.", Everyone was a bit shocked. Fox the most. Fox shook his head in rebellion.

"Sorry Bill, no can do, Krystal is part of our team", Fox crossed his arms. Falco appeared from behind.

"They got a lot of nerve thinking they can just ask of something like that. That's bullshit. Fuck that, Krystal you're coming with us." Falco squawked. Slippy and Peppy nodded in unison. Bill shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, guys that's something I had to obey." Fox got a bit irritated.

"Despite what the council has done for this planet, even if they are approachable, that gives them, no right to let them just walk all over you. Don't worry we'll talk to them.", Fox put his hand on Bill's shoulder. Falco swooped in to add his two sense in.

"Yeah, if they don't like it, we can negotiate with them, in our _own_ way", Falco said while punching his palm with his fist. Fox laughed after that.

"Star Fox lets move in", They ignored the council's request for Krystal to be excluded and trailed in. Krystal thought about it. She grinned to herself. She was lucky to have such a wonderful team. In a way, they were her family. Star Fox walked into the council's chamber. There was a long rectangular desk. There was the council, dressed in the most expensive designer suits that Katina has to offer. Knight raised his arms in the air.

"Welcome Star Fox! Thank Katina, you've arrived, safe and sound!", Knight was having a fangasm. He always dreamed of meeting the team, and there they were, right in front of him. Krystal looked at Morgamo. His fur was blue like hers. _Could he be...? No...My planet was destroyed, could have there been others that survived?_ Krystal dismissed the thought. Oracle was a bit infuriated.

"BILL, please come in here", without a second to lose Bill walked in, his body language less confident, and more fearful in a sense. "Yes, Councilmember Oracle?", Bill addressed the cougar in a formal way. Fox was taken off guard, This was out of his character.

"I thought we made it clear to have the blue vixen, excluded from this meeting?", Fox stepped up to the plate.

"Councilmember Oracle", He internally cringed at the expression. Fox was a bit irritated. He was supposed to show respect--to these types of people? "With all due respect, Krystal is part of our team. We don't split from one another. If Krystal can't be in this room, with us then you can kiss whatever you have in store for us goodbye!", Fox made it loud and clear.

He wasn't taking shit from anybody. Oracle slammed his fist onto the table. He growled at the vulpine, but all the vulpine did was stare him down. Inzah raised her hand.

"Oracle, please settle down, we don't need your childish behavior. Please excuse Oracle here, he's just a bit tense. Usually, this is the type of behavior we'd expect from Mashima!", Iznah laughed at her own joke. Mashima turned to face Iznah.

"Hey! That's rude of you!", Mashima spoke up quickly.

Well if Fox knew one thing, it was that Bill was right, they are quite the council. Knight cleared his throat.

"hehe, sorry about that. Anyway, Star Fox, we would like to offer you a contract with Katina.", Fox raised an eyebrow, He let the crow continue to speak.

"Katina and Venom have been on speaking terms as of lately. However, on Aquas, we have been asked to assist Venom in any shape or form. The first declaration of both planets putting trust in each other was a mineral mining Rig. I know out of all the things, that we did, we did that. After that Katina set up a base on one of the islands nearby. This mining rig is called the Arsenal. It's consisted of two huge buildings, consisted of 6 hexagonal buildings connected end on end. We have recently been alerted that Arsenal has been overtaken by an unknown enemy force. Katina's base called Shell hasn't been able to negotiate any kind of deal. Dash's team of scientists and miners disappeared, no trace of them." The crow finished his part. Morgamo then entered his part of the mission's details.

"We are expecting a full-on battle, with this organization. You have two objectives. You can choose any way to infiltrate Arsenal. How you do it is up to you. Your first objective is to reclaim Arsenal, destroyed or fully intact. Any prisoners you interrogate them. Your second objective is to locate Dash's missing team. Should you succeed in this mission, you will be paid handsomely." Morgamo laid back into his seat. Mashima then spoke. 

"There you have. Nothing more for us to explain to you. You have till this evening to make a decision and your route to winning back Arsenal."

Fox stood silent, trying to process a lot of the information that he just heard. Krystal went into some of the minds from the council However, everything was a jumbled mess. She didn't know who had something up their sleeve. She gave up trying to not get caught. If they excluded her they weren't telling the full truth. Fox nodded in agreement with Mashima's statement. Fox then ordered all of them to leave the room. They went out to meet Bill.

"Sorry guys", Bill lowered his head in shame. Fox playfully punched him in the shoulders.

"Bill don't worry about it. When we're done we can ask General Pepper he can get Katina to transfer you to us. Corneria will treat you much better."

Bill's eyes gleamed. "Thank you, Fox!", Fox gave Bill a reassuring grinning before he and his team walked off.

Fox wondered why this Arsenal rig was targeted in the first place. Fox knew deep down, his gut was telling something else.

They were walking into a Hornet's Nest.


	3. III

-ENTERED AQUAS ATMOSPHERE-

A loud, feminine robotic voice spoke through the Nomads mighty interior. Wolf took a gander of its beautiful water surface. Aquas has always been an unpredictable planet. Sometimes the sea level would rise without one's notice, and then on other days, it would lower, revealing multiple islands. Due to even the most advanced technologies, the planet cannot be inhabited on. However, the times where the water level would decrease, resources were quickly taken. This made Wolf question his mission even more. He can see some land upon, Aquas, giving the lupine the assumption that he was given this mission due to Aquas water level.

_But what about this pollution? How are Aquas pure waters being polluted? Is there recently discovered oil? Did Aquas hold oil underneath its planets crust? _

So many questions, yet no one to even answer them. Water laid back into his chair. He heard footsteps coming in from behind him. He quickly snapped his head to the left to see his comrade Panther walking towards him. Panther approached his leader. Wolf grunted a bit. He was waiting for Panther to update with him any information he dug on the hyena who assigned them this mission. Panther shrugged his shoulders. He shook his head in response. Wolf cursed under his breath. He was used to things going wrong. No matter at any turn in his life. To his birth, to his brother, to the rebellion on his home planet.

"Sorry Wolf, this Forda guy is _clean._ Everything checks out on his end. However this M character..." Panther let his sentence trailed off. Wolf snapped his fingers, rushing Panther to finish what he was saying. Panther scratched his ear.

"This M person doesn't exist. It's they're a ghost. Nothing matching with either database of the law.", Panther had a bit of worrying in his tone. Wolf looked back at Aquas. The Nomad was slowly descending upon the planet. Wolf looked at the coordinates that Forda sent them. Wolf hated these missions already and he didn't even start it.

"Nomad zoom in onto expected landing zone", Wolf ordered the Nomad to comply with his orders. A screen appeared in front of the two, showing the duo a much more detailed area. Wolf squinted his eyes to see a dark hooded figure. There was M. The ghost of the trio when they met at the bar. A though barged into Wolf's mind.

"But what about the elephant?", Wolf asked Panther. Panther grinned a bit. He pulled out a digital tablet, bring a small screen in mid-air.

"It seems our elephant, a friend has quite a bit of history with both sides of the law. What I'm about to tell you is really intriguing.", Panther brought a mug shot of the elephant. Wolf noticed how different he looked, from when he met them at the bar.

"This elephant was born in the middle of the battlefield. His mother was a miner on Macbeth when it was under attack from Star Fox and Cornerian forces, when Andross was in control. A part of an underground factory was caved in, leaving her and several others trapped. That's when she went into labor giving birth to the ugly piece of shit. Every one mined their way out to make sure that the baby would make it. At the end of it, only the infant, his mother, and two miners were left. The rest of them either died from particle inhalation or make a fatal mistake when mining in certain places.", Panther cleared his throat. Wolf took a second to process what he heard. That much information when Panther asked his contacts.

Wolf put his hand to his chin. His eyes glistened with an idea. "Panther when we're finished with this mission, I want you to find information about someone else".

Panther twists his neck, awaiting the question. There was a bit of silence from his leader. Wolf was always unpredictable; He always went with the flow, adapting to anything that happened. But Panther sensed a different aura from Wolf. Panther wasn't sure what was it thought. Wolf turned back to face Panther grinning widely.

  
"I need you to dig up as much information you can about Fox Mccloud."

_________________________________

Fox took a sip of his water. He had to fight his urge to drink soda or even energy drinks. Fox watched as Peppy paced back and forth trying to come up with a suggestion to figure out, how to infiltrate Arsenal. Falco was laying on one of the couches staring up the ceiling with his arms crossed. Slippy was looking at several copies of the blueprints of Arsenal. Krystal was closing her eyes meditating. Fox wasn't sure how Krystal can meditate in a time like this. Is it most likely possible she's trying to keep her powers up to date, she was a bit rusty? Fox put his hand up to his chin. Peppy broke the silence with a statement.

"I'd say we try to negotiate. Maybe with money. Giving away to back off. It's the best way with the least amount of blood on our hands." Peppy put up a finger. Falco stood up, rebellion in how fast he got up. 

"Well, I'd say we go into guns blazing, popping a cap in everyone's ass.", Falco raised his voice in determination. Falco raised his fist and placed the other on his biceps. Slippy intervened.

"But that would alert terrorists on Arsenal to focus all the firepower on us! Who knows where the hostages are really kept? What if they retaliate in return by putting a bullet in one of the miners or scientist?", Slippy shook his head. "That would be plain stupid. To brash of us.", Falco shot back.

"But that's the point of Star Fox! We blow shit up, one of the council members said, he just needs to get Arsenal team, it doesn't even matter whether it gets destroyed or not.", Falco squinted at Slippy. Slippy squinted back. Fox's tailed perked up.

"What if we, in a way tried to do both? As in a trying to focus on firepower, having one slip in unnoticed?", Fox saw everyone turn to face him. Fox's eyes widened a bit. He wasn't sure what to say next. Peppy interjected. He stopped his pacing, letting Katina's warm rays heat up his back.

"That would leaves us FAR to thin and spread out. What if our infiltrator gets caught red-handed? We can't swoop in to get them out.", Peppy can see the glare in Fox's eyes. He sighed. There was stopping him. Once Fox had something on his mind, he acted upon it.

Fox put his glass off water down in his table. "That is the plan. We're a big team, two of us can infiltrate while the rest of us three can try to talk first, then shoot if necessary." Fox crossed his arms, smiling wide as he can. Peppy can see the resemblance to James. Fox did get James signature smile. Peppy nodded in agreement. He wasn't fond of it, but he trusted Fox no matter what. Fox turned to Krystal. "Krystal you with us one this one?", Krystal slowly opened her eyes. She beamed with excitement. "Yeah! Count me in!"

Slippy rubbed the back of his head. "Yeeaaah, about that I can't...". Everyone turned to Slippy, internally gasping. Falco had his mouth opened bit, while Peppy dropped his jaw in a comedic fashion. Krystal tilted her head a bit. Fox had no emotion at all.

"I can explain! I'm almost done with the prototype of this project! You have to trust me on this. I sort of foresaw this happening. Thankfully we have a spare pilot ready. She had no orders and I struck a deal with her. I will come back to help! In the meantime, she'll be helping us.", Slippy guided everyone's view to the door with this hand. Fox felt his heart dropped a bit. He hadn't seen her in ages. Krystal can felt someone's mind burn with passion, with each step she heard approaching the door. Peppy lowered is head in disappointment. Falco groaned.

"Slippy...you _serious_?", Falco asked the toad. Slippy jumped a bit. "Trust me, Falco, she can hold her own! She's gotten better!"

The door slid open with its mechanical gears making a hissing sound. A female figure with white fur jumped in presenting herself in the best energy she could. 

"HEY EVERYONE", she yelled out.

Fox closed his eyes making a snicker.

"Fay long time, no see"


	4. IV

The Nomad slowly approached M as they felt the sand being pushed by the strong engines from the ship. M was tapping their foot, waiting for the two anthros to walk out. M adjusted their voice changer. M coughed to make sure it worked and sure enough, it did. M crossed their arms M looked back at the submarine. It was small. After all, it was only to support three people. M held onto their hoody making sure that they wouldn't be recognized. M was burning up inside of course. They just didn't want to admit it.

The Nomads entrance door slowly lowered revealing Wolf and Panther. Wolf walked down trying to intimidate M, but it wasn't flying with M. Panther was walking down right along Wolf, messing with his blaster, swinging it in a revolving matter. Wolf can see how M had a different change of clothes. This time to a much more lighter color of blue. A water-based camouflage. Wolf was slightly impressed. This person knew what they were doing. Wolf needed to figure out one more thing if the observation was to be proven correct. But that would be from another time. Panther gazed upon M. M had their hands buried in their pockets.

"Why hello there M", Panther greeted M with nothing but a grin. Wolf didn't say anything. He was trying to figure out what were the trio planning. Wolf crossed his arms before making his move. But before he can talk the mysterious figure spoke.

"Took you long enough, Any later and I would have set up camp already." M adjusted her jacket collar. Wolf's eyes widened a bit. M was wearing a voice changer. Now Wolf felt his assumption was correct, he just needed to figure out who the hell this person was. Panther stepped forward a bit, he looked at the tiny submarine. He pointed lightly at it.

"So that's what we're going to be cramped up in? I'm disappointed really. When a person such as Forda on your team, I'd would think that you'd have a much bigger vehicle of transportation.", Panther rolled his eyes as if M even responded to him. M stood there in silence, creating a tense aura. Wolf picked up on the changing aura.

"Before we get this shit over this, I want to ask you one question, hell maybe even more," Wolf growled a bit exposing a few his teeth. M was not fazed by it, it was like they were prepared for this. Wolf knew M was good but not this good with dealing with intimidation. But then again, there no information on this person.

"Shoot", M responded

"How does pollution fall into this? Forda keeps beating around my question, and now that you're here I want to hear it from you. I'm not in the mood so if you're going to try to play me, you might as well be in the circus.", Wolf snarled. Wolf didn't like where this was going. M just lowered their head shaking it slowly.

"The pollution isn't the least of your problems. Your objective is to deal with the group we've located that's causing it. I thought it would be common sense for you to put together, but I guess not. I knew it. You mercenaries have all brawn but no brains. No wonder Star Fox beat the shit out of you, multiple times", M shrugged their shoulders. Wolf had it with this attitude of M. He was about to step forward to knock M down but Panther put his hand out. Panther looked at Wolf, signaling him to calm down. _Look at you being the leader now. _Wolf thought to himself. Panther looked back to lock eye contact with M.

"Watch your tone, there mysterious being. That's quite a bold move you pulled. It's that probably that voice changer that gave you such confidence.", Panther titled his head down a bit giving a predatory, with intent to kill the vibe. M backed up a bit ever so slightly. Wolf grinned a bit.

"Those eyes...you have Rookie eyes. I've seen those eyes before.", Wolf got rid of Lord O Donnell and went back to being Wolf. "Gives me an advantage even though we're under your orders. Forda said we had to listen to you.", M made a noise of annoyance.

"How about we get this mission over with? Follow me into the submarine. You'll find that it has quite the legroom.", M walked to the submarine docked near the shore. M continued walking expecting the two to follow them.

Panther leaned near Wolf.

"This is going to be fun messing with this M of ours", Panther started walking toward the submarine. Wolf followed shortly after. Wolf whispered back.

"I think this M of ours might be a female.". Wolf felt a quick turn from Panther. "Really how so? With that bulky clothing, it's hard to tell.", Panther tried to see any female representation of M couldn't pick anything up. Wolf giggled, nudging Panther.

"It's the waist. The hips the never lie. You see the little bit of restraining M is holding when walking. Like they are transitioning.", Wolf smiled to himself. There was one last thing he had to do before confirming his assumptions. Wolf just needed to wait just a little bit longer

\---------------------------------

"Have you come to a decision?", Knight asked. He folded his hands neatly, awaiting Star Fox's answer. Fox cleared his throat and spoke. 

"Yes. We'll accept this mission but only on a couple of things.", Fox held up his finger. "Thought you said we can choose how to get Arsenal back, we want no Katinian government interference whatsoever. And two no secrets between us. Full disclosure at all times. Any other details you want to add before we go?", Fox crossed his arms, making sure to get something out of Knight.

Knight slowly shook his head. "I'm afraid that's all told we told you from our previous meeting. But rest assured, any other details we will inform you as soon as possible", Knight held his palm. Falco stepped up right behind Fox glaring at the crow.

"From a bird to another bird, you sure that's all you have?", Falco looked at Knights' face. Iznah spoke up.

"Star Fox, we will aid you in your mission anyway that we can, if you want no assistance from us, then we will follow that rule. If you decide to change your mind, we will not hesitate to help." Iznah ended it off with a smile. Fox nodded to her. Morgamo spoke.

"Then this meeting is adjourned. Star Fox you have your duty. Get to Aquas as fast as you can!", Morgamo stood up pointing away. Fox and his team walked out of the room, slowly picking up the pace heading to the Great Fox. Slippy stopped in his tracks causing everyone to stop.

"Slippy what's wrong? You do not wish us luck?", Falco joked, But Slippy sway his head in seriousness. "I made something to help in making communication easier. Follow me before you guys leave!", Slippy waved his hands towards him. "To my workshop!"

Everyone followed Slippy. It was like a dog guiding a bunch of lambs. Once they arrived to Slippy's work area, he pulled a grey suitcase out of an hiding area. Falco held his hand. "Eh look Slippy now is not the time to show us your--", Peppy hit Falco in the waist with his elbow. Slippy laughed.

"No no no no Falco, check these out!", Slippy laid the suitcase on the table. He flicked the latches off and opened it. Everyone peered inside. They were small little earbuds, almost like a black dot. Slippy held one up in his hand. "We're usually talking between our comms in our Arwings, but this time it's different. Two of you guys are going to be sneaking in so I developed this to make it easier for everyone to talk to one another!" Slippy smiled as wide as he can. "They are called Codecs!"

Everyone said "huh?" in unison. It threw Slippy off balance.

"The Codec? The codec is like a radio. It's highly more encrypted than our radio calls over the Arwings. It has a far range of being able to talk to one another. You even contact each from Zoness all the way to here! Each of you has been giving a frequency. All you need to do is select which frequency you want to select upon a holographic screen. If you need to contact someone quickly, I've got that handled too! Just think of the person you want to talk to, the codec will pick up the frequencies coming from your brain; the codec will then instantly do it for you. The codec will stimulate the small bones in your ear. No one but you will be able to hear it!", Slippy finished speaking with only a second to spare from losing his breath. Slippy took a couple of breaths from speaking too quickly. Falco picked one up and inserted it in. He shook his head a bit.

"Slippy it feels weird.", Falco said. Slippy put his hands on his waist. "You'll get used to it. I have one in mine." Slippy showed the black little dot, as the rest of the team observed how small it was. Fox picked one up, holding it, in one of the lights slowly turning it around. He finally inserted it into his ears. Peppy did the same, the Krystal and lastly Fay. Slippy clapped his hands in amusement.

"Now you guys are all ready to go!"

Fox and his team were about to run to the Great Fox, but Slippy remembered something.

"WAIT! I FORGOT SOMETHING!", everyone stopped in their tracks, as if they were playing red light, green light. Slippy pulled out a tablet. "I forgot to tell you all your frequencies.", Slippy dug through his jumbled mess of files. Everyone listened for their numbers.

"Fox your frequency is 140.85, Falco yours is 141.12, Krystal yours is 140.80, Peppy yours is 141.72, and Fay yours is 140.52." Slippy chuckled a bit in a worrying tone. 

"Slippy what about your frequency?" Fox asked. Slippy adjusted his hat.

"Hehe mine is 140.96", Slippy tipped them off with his iconic hat. Fox nodded. He turned around to face his squad.

"Alright Star Fox let's roll out!"


	5. V

Wolf finally strapped himself into one of the submarine seats. He wasn't used to sitting in the back. He was always in control sitting up front. Panther crossed his arms waiting to submerge, but M was taking forever. Wolf leaned forward a bit.

"You know this is like the 5th time you checked everything you do know that right?", Wolf told M. M only responded by sticking up the middle finger. Panther was laying his head back into his seat only to lift it up a few seconds later. These seats were not comfortable. They were like stone. Panthers back ached a bit. M started to pull away from the shore, steering the handles away from the sand. The sub quickly began to descend under the water. Wolf turned to look at the window near his seat. As the water began to overtake most of his view, all he can see was the vast emptiness of water. It gave the sort of an uneasy feeling to it. If Wolf wanted to see the coral reef of Aquas he would have to go to a different part of this area. M turned on the radar filling the sub with a beeping noise. A repetitive beeping noise that was sure to piss off Wolf in a matter of seconds. Panther flicked his ear from time to time. He knew it was going to be a long way.

Wolf scratched his chin, he turned to face M. "So how far is this place? I don't want to keep the pressure on my balls any more than I have too.", Wolf asked. M didn't face Wolf, instead, they continued looking forward. M finally answered his question.

"It's not really far. You can thank Forda for finding an island so close to the mission site.", M pushed the handles farther to accelerate the submarines' speed. This caused the duo behind M to fall back into their seats a bit. Wolf gripped both sides of the chair for a bit. Panther can feel his stomach, twist. Wolf looked over to see Panther a bit woozy. 

"You good?", Wolf asked. Panther held his mouth for a bit, showing some green in his cheeks.

"Yeah...I'm...fine....", Panther took a quick breath.

Panther tried to twist his back but there was no room. It was that small. M had lied to them. Panther put his hands behind his head swaying slowly from left to right. M looked down at the radar seeing a big chunk of green slowly made its way in the radars. Just could a large black thing of mass slowly enter in his from afar? Wolf took off his eye patch for his cybernetic eye to zoom in. He couldn't see what this thing was but it disappeared unable to show itself. Wolf put his eye back on. M broke the silence with their sentence.

"Alright we're here, we're ascending.", M pressed a button activating one of the submarines mechanisms to swim up. They finally breached the surface; all Wolf could see was a bit of darkness, with some light off the side of the window. They were in a cave. M pressed a button to release a large hatch from the top of the submarine. M didn't even get a chance to unbuckle his seat belt. Panther was the first one out, walking in circles a bit trying to soothe his upset stomach. Wolf got up and began to stretch a fuckton. He pulled his pants a bit down, giving some room for his balls to breath. They could see some light at the end of this short tunnel, followed by some green. M hopped out of the pilot's seat. They walked bast Wolf and Panther. They turned around to face them.

"I hope you pussies are ready. It's gonna be a walk from here on out, expect some resistance. They might be expecting us.". with that M walked in the only direction, they continued one. Wolf cracked his neck a bit.

This was gonna be a huge shitstorm.

_________________________________________

"Fay...where's Miyu? Didn't you guys completed the recon missions? Where is she by the way?", Fox asked with no ill intentions. Fay was silent for a moment before answering.

"Wellllll...Miyu had something to do, but don't worry she's helping us from the sidelines. I can't tell you though! It's a big secret!", Fay giggled a bit before hearing a sound from Falco.

"What the hell! It's everyone is keeping secrets from us. It's like we're the last to know everything. We're always kept in the dark.", Falco sighed in annoyance. It made Fay zip her mouth. Fox can feel some of the tension Even Peppy was dead silent. He hadn't even made a peep. Everyone was aboard the Great Fox waiting to get to Aquas. Fox opened his mouth.

"Alright here's the plan. Fay, Peppy, Falco you'll be the ones that terrorists on Arsenal will focus their firepower on, me and Krystal will find a way to sneak in. Slippy said there is a lower division that's not really well guarded, that's where Krystal and I will come in from. We'll try to take them down from the inside while you guys distract them. All clear?", Fox put a fist into one of his hands making a whacking sound. Falco fumbled with his tail. "Alright Fox you're the man, hey ROB how far till Aquas?', ROB was analyzing some data from a screen before turning around to face Falco.

"We will reach the Planet Aquas in about 20 minutes. I shall check to make sure all Arwings are ready for combat.", ROB walked off making certain sounds from his movement. Fox turned to his left to see Krystal meditating once again. She was in her zone, it would best for Fox not to interrupt her like last time. Fox walked to one of the chairs swinging it to his station. They were in the Great Fox quarters. Fox looked out seeing Aquas slowly appear into view.

_Am I really living up my fathers' expectations? No matter what I feel like I'm just not doing enough. Everyone expects so much from me. Yet I feel like I always disappoint. _

Fox slumped into his chair. His ears tilted back

_It hurts. It really does. I don't think people even see me as Fox, I think everyone just sees me as James. How can I be more different? I....I....I..._

"Fox?", Fox snapped out of his thinking. He turned quickly to see Falco.

Fox smiled at his friend. "Yeah what's up?". Falco cocked his head a little bit.

"Do you need to talk? Before this mission starts?", Falco looked around a bit. "How about we talk somewhere else?",Fox knew Falco had seen his body language, he completely forgot that he wasn't the only one in the room. Krystal remained still as stone, Peppy was invested in his books. Fox got up and walked with Falco. They walked to one of the empty hallways aboard the Great Fox. Great Fox has become more expansive since the last one.

"Fox, what's on your mind? No bullshit this time.", Falco leaned against one of the walls putting his leg up for support. Fox took a deep breath. He wasn't going to be beating around the bush this time. Fox took a while to speak, biting his lip while his tail swooshed in agitation. "It's okay Fox take your time.", Falco said in a soothing tone.

"Alright, Falco...I feel like a carbon copy of my dad." Fox felt like he can put a little more effort into his response. Falco looked down a bit toward the floor. He raised his head up again. "How so?'

"I'm tired of people saying I remind them of my father, no matter much I try to be different, it's always the same outcome. You remind me of James, you remind me of James. Fucking bullshit over and over again, it's like a song stuck on the radio station and I can't request to change it because it's everyone's favorite.", Falco continued to let Fox vent. "And the worst part is......If.....god dammit.", Fox put his head against the large panel glass that was exposing them to space. Falco raised an eye.

"Fox?", Falco waited for a response. He had all the time in the world, he didn't really have anywhere else to go.

"If.....everyone knew.....", Fox tried to contain sobs but he did let a couple of escape. Falco can see Fox's back rise up and down quickly. Falco put his hand on his allies' shoulder.

"If you were gay? Is that why you've been so on guard?", Falco quickly saw Fox turn around in the blink of an eye.

"How did you....", Fox wiped a tear from one of his eyes. No eye reds. Fox managed to pull himself together quickly. "I-I never told you--", Falco put his wing up.

"Fox...I knew you were gay. The way you acted around other men sometimes, the way you tried to flirt with me from back then. I mean I'm not sure who else knows, but trust me, you're fine. I don't care that you're gay, I only care about how good of a leader you are. You're Fox Mccloud. You're not James, You're not your mom. You can't let your Father's legacy define who you are", Falco began to press his finger in Fox's chest. He can feel the vulpine's heart pumping really fast.

"I can tell you that no one will care all day..but it's you who needs to accept you are.", Fox's eyes widened. Falco smiled giving off a friendly wink. He patted Fox on the shoulder.

"Now come on we have a mission to do."


	6. VI

The assigned trio made their way through the unknown vast Jungle hearing nothing the cool breeze brushing against the trees. Aquas were different when the sea level lowered. Wolf wasn't sure how did these islands stand intact after the water level would swallow these beautiful islands. However, it was extremely humid. Panther already took off his battle jacket wrapping it around his waist. He can see how Panther had his tongue out trying to cool himself off.

"Panther you're not a dog.", Wolf remarked.

Panther turned to face Wolf. He grew agitated. "How else am I gonna cool down? I'm not licking myself clean", that made Wolf shutter a bit. Ugh as if he'd ever want to see Panther do that. Wolf dismissed the thought in his head. M was still wearing such heavy clothes, Wolf was still shocked to see M hasn't passed out yet. Wolf made his way up to M who was walking a bit faster than the other two. He caused Panther to do the same. "How are you not boiling up in that thing?", Wolf asked

M just shrugged their shoulders.M stepped over some mud puddles until they stopped. Panther bumped into M by mistake.

"Oh sorry!", Panther apologized. M just looked back at the purple figure then turned to face front.

They continued on the path until M put their hand out. Wolf looked became puzzled. Panther's fur stood up on its end. Wolf looked around for a bit. He sniffed the air. Wolf pulled out his blaster pointing in several directions. Panther did the same. M slowly flicked their jacket revealing a blaster. Wolf observed the weapon M pulled out. It had a smoother grip than Wolfs. It was smaller but had a 5T chamber. A blaster that shot heavy but slow rounds.

_Cornerian weaponry._ Wolf heard the noise shuffle by him.

"Looks like we're not alone," M said. They put their guard up. Panther spun his blaster around like a revolver. Another scuffle of leaves moved. Quick footsteps were going from left to right. Wolf arched his muzzle a bit trying to capture their scent. He winced a bit. Panther noticed Wolf's gag reflex.

"Wolf, what is it? Do you know what they are?" Panther heard something on his end, quickly spinning around not even bothering to listen to Wolf. M stood calm as ever. M arched their back a bit getting ready to fire. Wolf removed his eyepatch. He tapped it for it to scan the area. A quick blue digital wave scattered across the terrain. Wolf saw multiple small, 8 legged creatures slowly crawling towards them

"Panther I'm not what these things are. They aren't soldiers. They aren't anything we've probably never seen. But they are getting ready to pounce." Woolf aimed his blaster toward a pack of leaves.

What happened next made M quickly pushed Panther.

A weird glowing spider jumped at Panther, but M luckily pushed him away just in the nick of time. M fired their blaster, with perfect precision hitting the weird creature. The spider shouted in pain backing away a before, before another climb up the tree spitting something from its mouth. Wolf knew it aimed at him. He did a cartwheel spinning in midair focusing his blaster. He hit the spider in one of the legs, seeing blue blood splatter over trees. The spider screamed, falling on its back. Panther swerved his leg delivering a firm roundhouse kick to another sneaking up behind Wolf. Wolf looked back to thank Panther. Panther nodded in return.

M aimed carefully at a couple of spiders charging toward them. M fired a nice straight shot, causing one to explode. The other spider charged at M. M fired once more, hitting the 8 legged creature. It exploded like the previous one. M looked up above to hear screeching coming towards them. M backed away quickly but stumbled over some mud puddles. M fell on their back. Wolf turned to see M on the ground beside him. Wolf focuses his vision on the spider. The spider was too close, being able to bite M's boot. M shouted in anger.

"GET OFF YOU BLUEBERRY LOOKING PIECE OF SHIT!", M kicked off the spider. The spider yelled in pain but only to reveal its large fangs covered in a purple substance. Wolf charged up his blaster aiming at point-blank. The spider just combusted due to how powerful strong the energy shot was. M screamed in irritation trying to wipe off the unknown blue liquid. Panther covered his vision so nothing would get in his eye. Panther stepped back a bit avoiding any blue gunk on him. Wolf, on the other hand, was covered in it. He shook his body getting rid of most of the gunk off. He looked at his arms.

"Ah shit, this is gonna take me forever to get out of my fur. Fucking A man,", Wolf put his blaster back in. He tapped his robotic eye to do another scan of the area, Nothing. All the spiders were eliminated. Panther put his hands on his knees trying to get a breath.

"Man...I'm...really glad we didn't die.", Panther chuckled a bit at the thought of near-death so early in a contract. He spun his revolver back into his holster. He laughed "Well, Well, Well looks I'm all squeaky clean! Besides sweat that is. " Panther looked at Wolf who was having none of Panther's bullshit. M got up only to receive a blaster being pressed to their back of their heads. M didn't say anything. They had a feeling this would happen.

"You have a lot of fucking explaining to do", Wolf growled.

___________________________________

-ENTERING AQUAS ATMOSPHERE. AWRINGS READY FOR DEPLOYMENT-

ROB stood at the launching station seeing all of team Star Fox getting ready to fly down. It felt different from Fay temporarily taking Slippys' place. Fox took a deep breath. After the conversation with Falco, he can feel his chest being lighter. Fox knew that the talk didn't get rid of it. Not all of it at least. Fox didn't know how to explain it. Fox pressed a couple of buttons, flicking a couple of switches.

"I'm all good. Switching to Codec frequencies. Can anyone hear me?", Fox pressed his finger into his ear. He awaited the rest of the team's response. 

"THIS IS FAY. I'M ALL GOOD. WAHOO!", Fay yelled. Fox winced, closing one of his eyes in pain. Ah, he needed to get used to Fay's hyper-ness. Fox remembered something that Slippy told them.

_Whenever you really need the backup. Contact me by the codec. I'll be there in less than a second!_

"This is Falco. I'm all set and ready to go!", Falco said in a firm tone. Falco shifted his shoulders a bit. "Damn it feels really good to be back in this thing again.", he added.

"This is Peppy. all systems go! Ready Whenever you are!", Peppy said. He wasn't feeling it with this mission. He still remembers Peppers' orders. Peppy wasn't even sure how he was going to complete it.

It was Krystals turn to confirm with the rest of the team. She was happily buckling into her seat when she noticed a small glove compartment a bit opened. She looked in to see a tiny silver box. She grabbed it and opened it. There was a note on the inside of the box. She read it. It was from Slippy. But why? She read the note.

_Made this little gimmick for ya. Just like the good old days you know?_

Krystals cheeks went up in red for a bit. Really? Could it possibly be? But this thick stick is metal and small.

"Krystal?", Fox asked for her conformation.

Krystal shook her quite in private. "Uh Yes, all operations are going! Let's do this!", perseverance back into her voice.

"Alright everyone Star Fox, Let's take back Arsenal!" Star Fox flew out of the Great Fox, flying ferociously down flying to Arsenal's location. Fox and Krystal flew off a bit lower, while Falco took lead. Falco spun around feeling the adrenaline rush through his bones. Fox can feel his mouth grow in happiness. He felt alive again. He felt like he can do just about anything. Krystal smiled to herself, forgetting how good it was to fly in her Awring again. Peppy didn't make a peep. With a majority of things running through his mind. The destroyed empire of Anglar had something down here. In the waters. Something that the majority of the galaxy wanted. Maybe Andross himself.

"WOOOOOHOOOOOOO, YEAH BABY LETS GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD.", Fay joyfully screamed. Fay was sort of going in and our for formation. But she couldn't help it. It was in her blood to be a rebel. Growing up it was either her way or the highway. They were closing in on Arsenal. They can see a firm black and silver back in their vision. Falco set his Arwing on a standard flight path. Peppy followed, suite while it took Fay to realize it.

"Falco it looks like we're receiving a transmission from Arsenal.", Peppy told Falco. Falco slowed his Awring. Peppy and Fay did the same.

"Accept it", Falco smiled. He wanted to poke fun at this group before blowing them to all pieces. Fay clapped her hands. "oooooh! The terrorist wants to talk to us!", Fay took everything as a game. Falco smirked a bit. _This girl is my style. I like it_

Fox and Krystal slowly descended their Arwings to the weak spot in Arsenal. Fox observed the area.

"Krystal can you feel anyone here?", Fox questioned Krystal. Krystal closed her eyes, trying to find any nearby thoughts. She shook her head. "Nope, nothing at all. It's weird.", Krystal trailed behind the vulpine as they flew down underneath Arsenal. Fox pointed through his cockpit. Though Krystal couldn't see him pointing.

"Look there's a small platform we can climb a ladder to. That'll get us in!", Fox set his Arwing above the water. He hopped out with Krystal following second. Fox nudged Krystal a bit. "Hey check this out. Look what Slippy installed in our Arwings. He pushed something on his wrist to put the Arwing invisible. Krystal's mouth dropped.

"Woah how did you do that?', Krystal asked. Fox showed something on his digital battle wrist. Krystal looked at the one she received as well. She looked around for it before finding the setting. Krystal smiled a bit joyfully. "Oh wow! That's amazing! But Fox watch this!", Fox stood back as he saw Krystal reaching next to her holster. She pulled out a small metal stick. Fox was a bit confused.

"Krystal what is--WOAH", Fox jumped back a bit to see Krystal holding a large metal staff. Fox's jaw dropped. She starting twirling it around a bit. She giggled playfully, She firmly stood in her battle position with this new staff. She eased back up. Fox couldn't believe how long it was.

"You like it? Slippy made it for me! It took me a while to figure out what it was at first. Takes you back to the good old days huh?"


	7. VII

"I've told you AGAIN! I have no clue what those things were! I've told you all I was given! The location we need to go is not far from here, we probably just stumbled into their territory." M had their hands up, still feeling the pressure from Wolf's blaster. Wolf grabbed M's head making sure that he would not try anything. He forced the blaster a bit deeper into M's head. M shrieked in a bit of pain. Panther stood there swinging his blaster in the air. He caught and repeated the action. Panther smiled giving a little bit of an aroused glare.

"Come on M...you don't want to do this to yourself.", Panther chuckled a bit. Wolf knew Panther was clearly getting a kick out of this.

"Tell us what you know, M...I'm not fucking playing a game here, I ask an answer and I expect a response." Wolf wiggled a bit, lightly tapping the trigger. M finally caved in. They didn't want to die just yet. They had to much shit to do before being taken out. Wolf beamed.

_Finally, we're getting somewhere_. The lupine released M's head as they fell to the ground. M turned around to still see the blaster to their face. M backed up a bit now covered in mud and the blue gunk that was still on them.

"Fine.....I've been tasked to accompany you guys by Forda. As you know we've been tasked with pushing out some group that's been harming Aquas waters.", Wolf slapped M a bit with his blaster. M grunted in pain. They grabbed their cheek.

"No fucking shit, if I'd have a dollar every time you said that I'd have enough to buy a strip club.", Wolf pushed his blaster forward between M's eyes. "What else? Are you guys really under Katina's orders?", M sat there silent for a bit, feeling their pants to continue the become heavy with the constant exposure to the mud. M tried to put some answers together but they couldn't find a way to do so.

"WELL....I'M WAITING!", Wolf yelled. M leaned back a bit. They lowered their head.

"No...we're not under Katina's orders. I don't even know who. The only person who does know who I and my friend are working under is Forda. That elephant you saw way back at the bar, along with me is my friend. But no matter how many times I think I'm onto something, Forda manages to escape my grasp."

M gazed back up to now see Wolf crouching at their eye level. "What do you mean..you think you're onto something?", Wolf pierced his killer gaze deep into Ms. M shuddered a bit. This man was no simple mercenary.

"I'm working under Forda's orders, However, I have my own agenda. Right now my friend and I are just pawns. I'm trying to make my way to the other side of the board. What I'm trying to do doesn't concern you at all!" M shouted, causing a bit of static with their voice changer. M grabbed their voice changer and hit it a couple of times. Panther walked up to M. Panther was right. This Forda guy was something else. It was like Panther said. Nothing trailed to the Hyena. Whatever this figure was trying to do, they went on a step forward and two steps back.

"It seems that your voice changer is reaching the end of its course. All the blue gunk on ya must have been messing with it.", Panther pulled M up, helping them to their feet. Wolf put away his blaster. Wolf looked forward seeing a large radio tower in their view.

Wolf pointed up. "Is that the place? It seems a bit far, but then again we're still kind of far from it. M looked back to see the same tower, Wolf was looking at. Panther walked a bit past the duo. M nodded in agreement. M stretched a bit cracking some bones in their body.

"Yep, that large tower you see there. It's sort of far. But according to my intel, that is where the main group should be. If we take them out, then the mission is complete."

"Well, we're not gonna waste daylight now, are we? Let's pick up the pace.", Wolf nodded in agreement. Wolf purposely bumped into M's shoulder. "Think you can keep up?", M didn't say anything. M gave one nod.

Just like that the three starting running toward the location. The path slowly started to form itself, revealing several tire tracks. Wolf stopped analyzing the tire tracks. He pointed up north and continued sprinting. They approached a minor base. The trio crouched behind a fallen tree. This base was in the way. It seems that before getting to the main headquarters, they needed to sneak past a couple of checkpoints. The problem was that they didn't know HOW many checkpoints there was. Wolf looked over the log. He removed his eye patch.

"What are you doing?" M asked.

"I'm getting some scans and data pulls.", Wolf replied. Wolf tapped his eye to do a data scan. Another digital blue wave swamped over the checkpoint. Panther sniffed the air. He took another one to make sure he caught the scent right. Panther looked a bit past Wolf.

"Wolf....", Panther whispered. Wolf put his hand up to silence Panther. Wolf switched to thermal.

_Alright, there are 5 guards. They are carrying 74s and Pineapples. A bit of a classic_

Wolf turned to face the M and Panther. Wolf adjusted his legs to a more comfortable position. M took off their heavy sweater. M tossed aside, taking mud and covering it. It revealed a much lighter sweater. Wolf shook his head.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm taking off my first layer. There's no used for it anymore. If we're going to get to that base with the radio tower--where the supposed group is, we'll need to be faster After all this layer just slowed me down anyway." M added. Panther tapped M on their shoulders.

"I'm tired of saying of M and thinking about that damn letter too. Anything we can call you by?", Panther asked. He was a bit curious to see what was under that mask. Who did this person look like?

M put a finger up to their chin.

"Just call me Mi. That better for ya?'

\--------------------------

Falco adjusted the Arwing, putting it in stable mode. He signaled Peppy and Fay to do the same. Falco put in one of the frequencies into his code. He adjusted the dials bringing in burst transmission, from Peppy to Fay. Falco made himself comfortable. Falco waited for Peppy and Fay to join the burst frequencies.

"Peppy Here"

"What's Poppin fellas!"

Falco looked at Arsenal. It was much bigger than he thought. He noticed smaller struts connecting themselves to hives. Two big struts and a couple of large bridges from one strut to another. It seems there were a couple of helipads on some of the struts. He noticed the turrets getting ready to fire at them. There were also some tiny soldiers from their view getting ready to fire. Looked like a couple of rocket launchers. Falco grinned. He's already itching to see how much firepower they can really throw at them. He hoped Fox and Krystal were doing good on their end.

"Alright, Fay you'll take the first half of Arsenal turrets. Peppy you'll be taking care of the other half. I'll be flying around getting rid of the little guys. Maybe even shoot at some of the command towers they have. You know what? I'll do just that. Everyone got it?"

"Right!", Peppy and Fay shouted in unison. The transmission still was beeping. They really wanted to talk to Falco. Falco accepted the request.

"Star Fox.....interesting...What a pleasant time for you to show up!", Falco kicked back a bit.

"Nah, Star Fox is doing something else.....This is.....Star Falco, you're talking to!", Falco can hear Peppy gasp a bit, while Fay squeaked. Falco can hear some voices talking in the background. He can tell they were a bit surprised.

"Well, Star Falco! You've come right on time. It's time to start the party!", A raspy but yet chilling voice made its presence. Falco dropped the act and leaned forward. He firmly gripped his Arwings steering handles.

_No way. NO way. Bullshit. He is really...in charge of this whole thing?_ Falco jerked his head in doubt.

"What do you mean by that?" Falco tried to interrogate the voice, but they hung up. Falco can see everyone getting ready!

"Falco...They aren't withdrawing!", Peppy said in a concerned tone. Fay cracked her fingers.

"Fuck yea! Let's do this!", Fay laughed.

"STAR FALCO LETS GO!", Falco ordered.

____________________________________________

Fox and Krystal finally reached one of the struts. They were climbing to what it seemed like forever. Fox opened the hatch and made his way in. He turned quickly to pull Krystal in. Fox hoisted Krystal up. She was heavier than she looks. Fox got up to observe their surroundings. It was a storehouse. It contained huge containers. Krystal closed her eyes focusing on the energy around her. Fox pulled out his blaster, setting the color from Lethal to non-lethal. The color switch from pure red to a light blue. Falco had the same setting, but his non-lethal shots were stronger than his. Krystal whipped out her new staff.

"Fox I'm not detecting anyone here. No one lost in their own thoughts. This place is completely unguarded. It's creepy in my opinion." Krystal readied herself behind Fox. Fox stopped a bit, holding up his fist. 

"I know Krystal. It's like they're expecting us."

Fox and Krystal took cover behind a blue container. Fox tapped his wrist, to pull up a 4D map of Arsenal. Fox grabbed some points of the map zooming in and out of it. Krystal looked at in awe. Though she was out of the krystal she was found, seeing these types of things over and over again never ceased to bore her. "We're in Strut L. We're at the back. Falco and rest are trying to diverge their attention to the front. Krystal's ears perked up.

"Did you hear that?", Krystal tapped Fox on his shoulder. Fox rubbernecked.

"Hear what?"

Krystal tried to explain it but nothing really came to mind.

"I felt something. Someone or something's cry for help", Krystal closed her eyes to try and pinpoint the exact spot. She shook her head.

"No that can be right." Krystal sat there puzzled. Fox noticed she was thinking long and hard to be spacing out. He snapped his fingers right in front of her. She blinked a bit.

"What do you mean? Maybe you're sensing Dash's team?" Fox suggested. Krystal denied the suggestion.

"No, no no, they....are somewhere else. They aren't here. They are located somewhere. They aren't inside of this section at all. Maybe on the other half, I'm not sure, we'll need to make our way over there." Fox saluted Krystals suggestion. "So what are you feeling? Or thinking as I should say?"

Krystal looked a bit worried.

"Whatever it is. It's big, and it's angry."


	8. VIII

Fox and Krystal can hear large explosions. _Falco is at it. Just hold them out as long as possible. _Fox peered over to see an elevator. Krystal crawled out to see what he was seeing. Fox turned back to face Krystal. Krystal hoisted herself up. This was crucial. There was no time for errors. If they were captured, then it would be game over. Fox and Krystal had one objective. To get to the other half of Arsenal and see if the hostages were there. Fox signaled to go. They quickly made their way to an elevator. The elevator had some sort of cross chained door. It's one of those doors that you would find in mining bases, the ones underneath any type of planet with mainly dirt and rocks. It was surprising to see these types of doors out in the middle of the sea. Fox turned to face Krystal.

"Okay let's recap, Dash's team of scientists and miners were on this base when it was taken over. This unknown organization has complete control over this place. What we need to do, if what you say is true, then we'll make our way over there. But for now, let us check every crook and nanny in this place.", Fox pushed a button calling the elevator to come down. Krystal swung around Fox, making sure no one was behind them.

"Let's try to get as much as information before heading to the other half of Arsenal. There could be clues on what could tell us who these terrorists are."

"Agreed"

Fox can hear the mechanical gears making it's a loud noise, as the elevator made its way towards them. Fox looked back at Krystal with her shrugging her shoulders.

"So much for being quiet", Krystal said. Fox tried to look in between the huge gaps made by the chain gate. All he can see were wires moving up and down. Krystal turned back to see if anyone would spot them. Nothing. It's like no one cared about this strut. Were they falling into a trap? This seemed to easy even if Slippy pointed out the weakness within Arsenal. The elevator finally appeared, with the chain gate slowly opening up, revealing the heavy platform. Fox cautiously made his way in, with Krystal falling suite. Fox noticed a panel to his left seeing multiple floors. Fox rubbed the back of his head. Krystal peered over Fox's shoulder.

"Well....which one should we go to? There's the warehouse level, then L1, L2 and L3.", Fox fumbled with his finger trying to pick which one. Krystal calmly pressed L1. Fox turned to look at her smiling.

"We'll take it step-by-step. I think Falco and the rest can handle themselves pretty fairly.", Fox and Krystal looked up to hear several more explosions. Krystal closed her eyes to focus if there was anyone nearby.

"L1 will be easy. There are only two people. The problem is that since this elevator makes a lot of noise we'll have to ambush them." Krystal gripped her staff tightly. Fox twirled his blaster, ready for a fight.

The elevator stopped at L1. Krystal scooched over to the right, while Fox scooched over to the left. The elevator stopped at L1, releasing a couple of steam from the gears. Fox and Krystal tensed up. Krystal twisted her grip on her new staff, while Fox perched his blaster up. The door opened, following the chain gate.

"Hey did you call the elevator?", a voice asked.

"Uhhh...no..I'm over here, you're over there, nearby by the elevator."

"Yeah, but I didn't even touch the button."

"Well go check, I still need to call for more back up. This Star Falco is really doing our defenses dirty."

Krystal covered her mouth to muffle her laughter. Fox twitched his ears. He shook his head, Falco was really having fun up there. They can hear footsteps approaching the elevator. Fox and Krystal were ready to pounce. Once the figure stepped in, Krystal gave a good hard whack to the soldier's head, causing him to pass out instantly. Fox quickly pulled the unconscious body aside so they wouldn't make any noise. He quietly laid the body down. Krystal entered the L1 floor crouching near one of the walls. Fox rolled near a crate. The figure noticed the unexpected silence.

"Spencer?" the figure looked back. The figure cocked his gun. "Spencer! This better not be one of your tricks! I will shoot your balls off!", he added. Fox made his way to another nearby crate. The soldier walked straight past Fox approached the elevator where his friend suddenly gone quiet. Fox rushed to the soldier putting his blaster on the soldiers' head. The soldier gasped. Krystal appeared to form her hiding spot. She pressed a button, letting the staff reveal a nice sharp blade begging for first blood.

"Where are the hostages?", Fox asked. He pressed the blaster into the soldier's head. The soldier still had his gun, but Krystal took it away. The soldier put his hands up in a form of surrender.

"what hostages?", Fox looked at Krystal.

"The miners and scientist that got dragged along for this ride. Where are they? We're not asking again!" Krystal held the bladed staff near the soldiers throat. The soldier panicked.

"Uhhh...please don't kill me! Okay look all I know is that they were transported to a nearby base. It's not far from here!" Fox tightened his grip around the soldier's neck.

"Any other hostages here? Why were they transported? What for?", Fox asked question after question. The solider's legs started wobbling. Krystal can see a wet stain slowly appearing. Krystal giggled to herself.

"L-L-Look, all I know is that they were taken there to continue something! I overheard that they are using Arsenal as some sort of bargaining chip! Please don't kill, I really needed this job." the soldier begged to be kept alive.

Fox knocked out the solider with the butt of his blaster. The soldier fell down with a thud. They looked around after what transpired. Fox put on his hands on his waist. "Looks like another warehouse level. Let's check the other floors just in case. Krystal nodded in agreement. They went back into the elevator, dragging the other soldier out before heading to L2. The elevator began its ascent.

"This is pretty fun, sneaking in. I remember the last time, trying to do stealth." Krystal twirled her staff. She was getting back into the flow.

"Yeah, and the last time you did you got tossed out of a floating pirate ship by that general", Fox punched her shoulder. Krystal smiled.

"Yeah being in that Krystal wasn't great for me. It was like being in amber.", Krystal joked a bit.

They reached L2. All of a sudden the floor started to shake. Both anthros were able to grasp their bearings. The elevator approached L2, becoming looser with each rumble. Fox and Krystal hopped out of the elevator, just in time. Some of the wires snapped causing it to fall all the way down, sending a big crash as it's final message. Fox looked back to see an empty gap. He punched the floor lightly. What the hell was Falco doing up there? Did he forget that they were in here?

"Damn it! Now we'll need to find a way to get L3. There should be some stairs nearby. Krystal dusted herself off. The vixen closed her eyes. Fox readied his blaster. Krystal pointed to one of the automatic sliding doors.

"There's a full squad coming through!", Fox and Krystal separated retreating to separate places of L2. Krystal hid behind another crate. Fox hid behind a couple of boxes. _Not the best cover, but it'll do_. Fox aimed his blaster to the door. Instead, a smoke grenade got tossed in. It exploded present itself with a huge wall of grey smoke. 

"GO GO GO GO GO"

_______________________________

Fay twisted her Arwing a few times, avoiding the majority of the turret fire. She went up twirling around like a tornado, she stopped controlling it, letting gravity take over, she pressed a button forcing the g-engines to go at max force. She pressed a button releasing two remote-controlled missiles. The missiles hit two turrets on strut A. Fay did a quick celebration.

"ALRIGHT JUST A COUPLE MORE TO GO!" Fay shouted. She dived down avoiding some rockets that were aimed at her. Falco swung in fire his laser turrets, hitting some of the soldiers in the process. Falco was focused. He hadn't heard that voice in a long time. Falco went passed a bridge, firing a smart bomb at one of the towers. He can see some soldiers ducking for cover. In an instant one of the radio communication towers was gone.

"Peppy hows everything on your end?" Falco asked.

Peppy fire a missile, destroying a turret on Strut K. "All good here Falco! Just gotta take care of some remaining turrets. It's becoming less crowded here!", Peppy rolled his Arwing nearly avoiding a rocket that was fired. Peppy got too careless. Fay shoot out a couple more energy shoots, causing more turrets to explode. 

"Though it would have been better to negotiate, there was no need for such a mess", Peppy said.

"PEACE WAS NEVER AN OPTION!", Fay yelled. She was having the time of her life. Falco smiled.

"See Peppy? Fay gets it. Good to know we have someone with High morale!", Falco did a barrel roll avoiding some heavy energy blast. _Red energy blast...Those are high concentrated blast. Are they getting desperate? _ Falco wondered to himself. Arsenal was not backing down.

"Everyone watch out!, They are bringing out more heavy artillery. Stand on your toes!", Falco exclaimed. Fay got even happier. 

"Alright more shit to mess up!"

"Fay this isn't a game! One mistake and you'll be sleeping with the fishes!" Peppy disciplined. Fay swooped down underneath Arsenal, appearing on the other side. She did a 180 firing at a group of soldiers. They had nowhere to go so they jumped off. Fay felt almost a bit guilty. Was she taking this a bit too far? 

"Guys, should we stop? I think we left our mark, nearly all of the turrets are destroyed and there aren't really any soldiers left" Fay had a more lowered tone.

"Don't get sentimental Fay! We need to clear a path for Fox and Krystal. They'll find those hostages, wherever they are!", Falco pushed his handles inward. The Awring went in overdrive hitting more a couple of the last turrets. Finally there was no more left. All struts were cleared of turrets. Falco, Peppy and Fay went into the standard triangular formation. Falco saw a landing pad, clear of soldiers. 

Falco searched for Fox's frequency. He inputted the numbers.

_140.85_

"Hey, Fox! We dealt with the resistance--"

"FALCO LOOK OUUUUUUUUUUTTTT!"


	9. IX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Accidentally posed the chapter a bit to early sorry folks heres the long version

Wolf's ear's perked up. He looked off to the side where he heard the explosion coming from. They were hearing these types of sounds for most of their mission Mi turned back to face Wolf. He stared off in the distance, in a way spacing out. He was trying to piece together what caused that explosion. Panther stretched his legs a bit from all the action. He hadn't been in such a serious fight before, it didn't even give him a chance to warm up. Mi looked down at heavy pants. There were covered in dried dirt and the mysterious blue gunk. Mi shook their head. Mi started to unbuckle the heavy set of pants. Wolf saw from peripheral vision. He did a double-take to make sure he wasn't seeing anything. They weren't too far from where they were supposed to be. There weren't any heavy checkpoints to get through. They sneaked through with ease, the only part was to actually infiltrate the main base.

"Mi, why are you stripping?", Wolf joked around. Mi looked up with agitation in their eyes.

"I'm NOT stripping. I have another layer of pants underneath. These pants are no use to me anyway. I have a ton of spares anyway.", M dropped the heavy layer of pants revealing a set of green layer pants. Wolf's eye opened like saucers. _That's Star Fox outfit. Well their battle outfit anyway__, just who the hell is this person?_ Wolf looked at Panther, with Panther returning the look.

"Are you with Star Fox?", Mi tossed the pants away, not answering their question. Mi took a deep breath. They playfully shrugged their shoulders bit.

"Well yes and no. I'm under orders from CCI. I'm technically not part of Star Fox, though I did fly with them occasionally and succeeded in my missions, I just wasn't feeling it. I occasionally would do recon missions here and there." Mi flicked their legs, feeling much lighter than before. Mi felt much better. This heavy set of layers was agitating them ever since they got dirty.

Panther slowly walked up to Mi, giving that iconic glare of his, Wolf didn't do anything, all he saw was her waist. Wolf playfully rubbed his chin.

"I knew it. I fucking called it Panther", Panther looked back to Wolf, he was taken off guard.

"Right I forgot", Panther back off of Mi. Mi looked a bit confused. Mi was seeing how weird Wolf was being unexpectedly happy.

"What?... What am I missing?", Mi gave off a glare to Wolf, but that only served to make Wolf chuckle.

"Mi you wouldn't happen to..oh I don't know...a female?", Panther waited for Mi's response.

There wasn't any sort of reaction whatsoever. It was like Mi was trying to piece together how did they come to that conclusion. Mi put her hands on her waist taking a deep sigh. Mi couldn't get out of this one. Mi just shook her head left and right. _Goddammit_

"Yes, I'm a girl...whoop-de-doo. Do you want some sort of prize? Well, guess what I ain't got shit on me." Mi adjusted her voice changer. Panther tapped at it.

"There's really no use for it anymore.", Panther gave off a playful smile. Mi was taken aback.

"Okay, point taken, but how did you figure that out?" Mi asked. Mi began to take off her mask and hood. She threw it on the floor, revealing a beautiful set of ears, and eyes, burning bright as stars.

"Your waist--the waist never lies chica", Wolf crossed his arms. He can Mi's eyes widened. The red flourished to her cheeks. Wolf continued to speak. "Your hips were swaying with restriction, defying its original role. To attract a mate. Yet you were going the opposite direction.", he further explained.

Mi's tail swooshed a bit. She was a bit flattered in a way. Mi was right, Wolf wasn't any ordinary mercenary. She rubbed her ear a bit. Miyu untangled her voice changer, dropping in on the ground. Once it did, she crushed it with her boot. Mi made a couple of grunts in her throat. Panther tightened his battle jacket around his waist it was becoming a bit lose.

"Ahh, what the hell. My full name is Miyu.", Miyu was defeated in terms of hiding. But a thought rushed to her head. If Wolf was able to see through her tricks...

Did Forda do the same?

_____________________________

Falco dodged an incoming missile just in the nick of time. The triangle the three formed separated. Falco looked around a bit. He couldn't see anything. Falco heard another shot heading his way; without a second to spare, he twisted narrowly having the shot almost hit on his wings on his Arwing. Peppy was flying around Arsenal trying to see anyone firing upon them. Fay flew up trying to see if the attack was coming from above. 

"Jesus where the hell are these guys firing from?", Fay asked with a bit of worry in her voice. She leaned her Arwing at an angle seeing three black fighter wings slowly appearing out of thin air. Fay watch in horror, as these things gave off several pulses of energy. "Guys! They had some sort of stealth camo! Peppy one of them has their sights on you!" Fay couldn't believe her eyes. These things were bigger than the Arwings, yet faster and more durable just from taking a glace. Falco cracked his fingers and feathers, getting ready to pull off some neat tricks.

"Alright gang, these are completely different enemies, but we can take em!" Falco flew toward one of the fighter jets, it's black yet shiny armor trying to piss off Falco. Falco fired one of these energy shots, only to have the black fighter jet quickly dropped down. Peppy can see one of the jets making its way to him. Peppy fired a missile backing away trying to get some distance between him and the fighter jet. The black jet easily leaned at an angle dodging the missile.

"Jesus it's like we can't hit these things? I've never seen any time of fighter jets like these before!" Peppy yelled out. Peppy grunted as he tried to shake off the pursuing enemy, but to no avail. It was slowly catching to him. Peppy couldn't believe these jets were toying with them in a way. Peppy looked at the Arwings stats. He gasps in shock. Peppy pushing his Arwing to its maxed limit and yet the unknown fighter jet wasn't even getting warmed up.

It was Fay's turn. Fay can see from below one of the jets quickly at a straight angle. It was disturbing in a sense. Fay knew that this wasn't going to be easy, but she cracked a smile nonetheless. Fay flew away from Arsenal, doing a 180 to still see the jet on her tail. Both of them having a staredown with each other. Fay knew that this black jet was mocking. It wanted her to make the first move.

"Okay, then it takes two to tango!" Fay charged at the jet.

__________________________________

Fox and Krystal weren't having the easiest time either. Fox managed to get a couple of soldiers down. Easy headshots one by one. Thankfully no one's brains were splattered since Fox's blaster was set to non-lethal. Krystal tossed her staff at one of the soldiers knocking them out. She rushed forward stepping on one of the soldier's shoulders pushing off causing him to fall. She grabbed her staff midair, twisting her body and slamming it on a helmet of another soldier cracking their helmet in the process. Fox rushed up to a soldier trying to disarm them. He grabbed the rifle hitting the soldier in the face with his elbow; snatching the rifle away. He held the rifle from the other end slamming the butt of the rifle across the soldier's face. The soldier was out in an instance.

They finished the battle. Krystal went back into her standing position with her staff. Fox looked up the staircase to which the soldiers came from. There were wide stairs making a turn to another level to L3. Fox put the blaster into his other hand, stretching his hand a bit. He suffered some hand cramps. Krystal tossed her staff from one hand to the other waiting for Fox's orders.

"This way!", Fox guided Krystal to the door. They ran up the staircase entering L3. They saw a change of scenery. There were several boxes piled up, a door leading to a bridge. They were in a different area. A large area with a table with several papers on it. Fox felt his right ear twitch.

"Looks like we're on L3. The main level. Look a door leading to a connecting bridge to Strut J." Fox observed a couple of soldiers passing by. Both anthros took cover behind a wall nearby. The interior was divided into 4 sections, it was weird for a strut that was six on all sides. The heavy sound of multiple boots slowly getting louder with each second.

"Quick let's go! Ebirah will be here any minute! We need to get to lower levels! Is the relay working? Are the frequency pulses working?" of the soldiers asked? The other turned their heads to face the other.

"Yeah! It's working like always that thing can really mimic anything, we can't let the intruders get it!", they ran out of the door leading to the connecting bridge. Fox turned to Krystal expecting her to answer for his confusion.

"I don't know anything about an Ebirah. Do you?", He asked. Krystal closed her eyes sensing the fading soldier's thoughts as they went to another strut. Krystal rubbed her muzzle. Fox peeked behind the corner waiting for anything to appear. Nothing; They were in the clear.

"It seems Ebirah is some kind of creature. Then why--", Krystal stopped realizing the terrible thought. Fox can see her process of what realization she just made. Krystal looked at Fox with a scared expression.

"Arsenal was made for mining minerals, but I think it also has another purpose. "


	10. X

An engine was roaring in the distance as Wolf, Miyu and Panther were making their way to the entrance of the base they needed to go. Miyu checked her coordinates. Wolf ducked underneath some leaves. Miyu did the same but covering the augmented digital light with her hand. Panther just plopped down onto the ground. Panther was so done with this, he just wanted to get the mission over with. Wolf noticed a large truck carrying an open green container. It was full of mysterious equipment. Wolf thought maybe they can sneak onto the truck, slip in undetected. Wolf started to do motions with his hands, signaling Panther and Miyu to do certain actions. Miyu looked puzzled.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Miyu asked.

_Okay, well that went out the window_

Wolf facepalmed. Panther just rolled his eyes. He even got a bit of a smirk in. Wolf turned back to see some guards looking the truck, they looked into the driver seat, looking underneath. They did some augmented scans of the truck. Wolf swished his trail. He turned around grinning. Panther knew something was up. Miyu looked between the two completely lose between the glances that they were exchanging. 

"Why are we looking at each other like we're in a porn scene?", Miyu grew a bit concerned. Wolf snickered a bit. Wolf had an idea. He pointed to the opening of the truck.

"As soon as they finished scanning it, we'll quickly hop in. That'll make things just a bit easier. Just by looking at this base, security should be shit." Wolf got into a position, a sprinting one. Miyu raised her body a bit still covering her augmented map with her wrist. Panther swung his tail a bit, his pupils increasing in size. Once the guards were done, they gave a thumbs up. The driver of the truck soon started the engine. Wolf quickly sprinted to the opening of the truck tossing his body in. Miyu hopped into the truck , in less than a second. Panther jumped, barely making any noise.

_I still got it. _Panther mentally patted himself on the back. They hid separately in each of the containers. Wolf hid under a cardboard box, Panther squeezed himself between hiding behind towering transportable lockers, and Miyu covered herself with a military blanket. The truck entered the gate, making a couple of turns. The truck shifted a hitting a couple of potholes. Once the truck came to a stop, a door opening and closing. Wolf waited for the footsteps to slowly vanish within seconds. Wolf got out, helping Miyu off. Panther followed shortly after. Wolf looked around the large metal garage door closing off the coldness of the ac from escaping. They were surrounded by a couple of other trucks. It was a bit cold in here. Miyu rubbed her arms to gain some heat.

"Alright, what's the plan?", Panther asked. Miyu lifted her arm off her wrist to reveal the holographic map, with a red dot indicating where they were. Miyu started to speak.

"Okay, so this is where we are. I found a hole within network of this station; that allowed me to grab some blueprints. I did this shortly before you guys arrived. As you can see we are here. And according to the map, the group is over here." Miyu pointed to a lower level of the base. The room was smaller than the rest of the other rooms within this level. Miyu explained further. "We are on the B level, we need to get to B2 the lowest level. We're currently in the core."

"Miyu, why are they here?", Wolf questioned the weird motives of the group.

"I'm not sure. All I was told from Forda was that they needed to move operations to here. It would be pointless to attack Arsenal.", Wolf buried his brows into his eyes.

"Arsenal?", Miyu closed her map.

"Yeah Arsenal. Like I said you weren't supposed to know these things. I'm just on a higher need-to-know basis level than you.", Miyu smiled. Wolf shook his head.

_This is bullshit_

____________________________________

"IM HIT IM HIT, DAMN IT", Falco yelled. He couldn't believe it. Was he getting worse? Or was he outmatched? No way, these things are brutal. Falco tried to regain his control over his Arwing, but it couldn't last much longer Falco noticed one of the fighter jets rotating itself toward him. It was going to kill Falco. Falco knew that wouldn't happen dived now to one of the nearest helipads of the struts. The black fighter jet aborted its action and flew away. Falco braced himself for impact. The Arwing landed onto the helipad of Strut A, Falco starting to shift around, his body jerking like a ragdoll. The Arwing came to a halt. Falco put his wing on his forehead. He was unscathed, but the fight wasn't over yet. He wasn't sure when the fighter jet would be back. He tried to get his harness off, but it was stuck. Falco tried pressing the seat button to release the harness around him, but the thing would not budge. _Shit. _Falco punched the Arwing glass. He didn't want to go out on this piece of shit. Arsenal would not be his grave.

"FALCO!", Fay screamed. She grunted in anger. She pressed a few more buttons, pushing the Arwing to its max. Fay growled a bit showing some of her teeth. She didn't care about the fighter jet behind but she will avenge Falco, though he wasn't dead but you get the point. Fay chased after the fighter jet that shot down Falco. The fighter jet switched their engines facing towards Fay. Fay shot a face of amazing yet disgust. _Jesus these things can fly BACKWARDS?_ Fay didn't believe it. She blasted more energy shots, but the black jet put up a shield dismissing all the focused shots. Fay was starting to lose a bit of hope. Were they going to lose? What were these things?

Peppy still needed to shake off the fighter jet that was chasing him. Peppy tightly gripped his handle. "I think we're going have to retreat fellas! Falco take cover within Arsenal! I can't seem to get rid of this fella off me!", Peppy felt his Awring jerk a bit. The black fighter jet shot near one of Peppy's wings. His shield started to deteriorate. Falco's went down in an instant with just the one-shot he took. These fighter jets weren't even machines...They were monsters.

Fay rebelled. "NO WE CAN'T QUIT NOT YET!", Fay flew up and down, side-to-side avoiding the shots, but each one came closer and closer to her. Falco rolled into Strut A. He used his codec, activating burst transmission.

"Fay, I gotta go with the old man here, in order to win this fight some of us are going to have to lose it." Falco pulled out his blaster getting ready to fight any more of the soldiers within Arsenal. Fay lowered her head in shame. She'd never run from a battle. But this was a first from them. Causing Star Falco to retreat? Fay hesitantly pulled back. Peppy flew back into the sky, the fighter jet that was chasing him slowly decreased their distance from him. Soon enough, the fighter jet disappeared from sight once more. Fay was right behind Peppy. She didn't want to leave an ally behind. The fighter jet that was chasing her slowly faded away. Both of them retreating to the Great Fox.

Falco with one mighty pull broke his harness and ran in the strut A for some cover to avoid the black fighter jet. He needed to contact Fox about what happened.

140.85

*BEEP* *BEEP*

__________________________

Fox and Krystal went through all of Strut L making sure not miss anything of any information. But nothing. Strut L was only a place to store equipment. Fox shook his head in disbelief. The only thing they were able to acquire was the coordinates to the island. That was the only thing that Fox was happy about, yet that happiness wasn't really huge. Krystal decided to try and to sense anything around her. She was focused. She sensed for emotions, thoughts, heartbeats anything to help them determine where to go next. Fox waited for her to finish. While she did that, he was receiving a call coming from his codec. He pressed his fingers against his ear.

"Fox here? Falco that you?"

"Yeah Fox, I've been shot down. I'm located in Strut A"

"Falco are you okay? What happened out there?"

"Yeah I'm good, my Arwing has been badly damaged, but I'm okay. How are things on your end?"

"We got heavy resistance from Strut L, they were sort of expecting us. What the hell happened?"

"Not sure, but Fay and Peppy retreated back the Great Fox?"

"What! Why?"

"These black fighter jets, they were not even machines they were just monsters! We've never seen such a battle machine before."

"Fay and Peppy retreated; we were completely outclassed!"

"....."

"Fox you there?"

"Yeah...Falco..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you know anything about something called Ebirah?"

"  
Ebirah?"

"Yeah, we overheard one the soldiers mention something that goes by the name of Ebirah"

"Uhhhh...Yeah sorry, Fox I've got nothing. I don't know anything about Ebirah. I'll contact Peppy to ask more about this thing. In the meantime, I'll look around this half of Arsenal to see if any hostages are here"

"Falco about that"

"Spit it out, I'm used to things going wrong"

"According to a soldier we interrogated, the hostages were located and taken somewhere else"

"Really where?"

"Not far from here, there's an island we managed to at least get coordinates from."

"Alright, Fox what's the plan now? we're spread out to thin."

Fox thought out what he should do for a while. It was dead silence between the two for a while. Fox took a breath.

"Krystal and I will go to the island, you think you can handle investigating the rest of Arsenal? We didn't get far anyway."

"hehe leave it to me, Fox!"

Fox and Falco hung up. Krystal opened her eyes ready to report to her status to Fox. Fox turned to face her.

"I sense something below us but it's faint. However, with each second, it grows more violent. I hope Falco will be okay." Krystal looked down at her staff. Fox placed a hand on her shoulder. He gave off a smile.

"Falco is tough he can handle it. Come we're heading to the island, the base is located near Mount Kotula"


	11. XI

Falco took a breath and sat down onto the floor. He felt a pain rising in his left arm. His body's adrenaline was beginning to wear off. Falco got up. _Damn Jets, or whatever the hell they were._ Falco hoisted himself up trying to figure out what went wrong. He felt stupid for not using Slippy's camouflage ability. He thought he didn't need it, but Falco wondered if he ordered the team to use it or if they even forgot about while trying to stay alive maybe things would have been different. Maybe they could have even turned the tide of battle. Falco rubbed his left arm a bit. There was no time to be a pussy, he was given an order, and he needed to follow it. Falco swallowed his pride. It was one of the few times he would have done that. _Did Fay know about the upgrade? No I don't think so, she never really is with the main team, she's off on other missions. I think Fay might have been using older models of the Arwing before taking Slippy's place. That girl got guts, I'll admit. _Falco stopped pondering. Falco needed to investigate Arsenal. 

"Alright, let's see what this mining station has in store for me." Falco paced through the first strut, the one he rolled into. This strut was sort of office space, There were some pipes in the next room. Falco walked into to pipe room taking a quick glance. He can feel the intensity of the heat pulsating. He backed away and rummaged through some of the computers of the replicated office space. He sat down on one of the chairs trying to force his way into the computers. After several attempts, he finally got through. He smiled in victory. He clicked a few files, opened some excel sheets. Unfortunately, nothing came up. Falco put his blue feathered hand onto his face. Strut A had nothing. He got up taking his blaster and headed to Strut B. But first, he needed to head to the connecting bridge. Falco pointed his blaster forward and walked cautiously to the bridge. It was still daytime. Aqua's time was much slower than Katina's and Cornerias. His thought focused back to that voice he heard over the transmission.

_It's time to start the Party! _

He didn't hear that raspy voice in a long time. Falco headed on the connecting bridge, lightly running to the other Strut. He arrived at Strut B entering the complex. He saw what it looked like him a huge pool of bubbling water. The oxygen bubbles rising to the top of the water. He peered over the railing. This seemed to be a decontamination strut. Falco decided if he needed to find what would give him clues as to what is this terrorist organization has been doing, he needed to head to the main strut. The big strut in the middle. Falco agreed to himself, of course, he would, he's Falco! There was no time to waste. He needed to head over there now.

______________________

Fay punched a wall upon the Great Fox. She punched it again. Peppy sat upon one of the couches in the main resting room upon the Great Fox. Peppy didn't know what to do. Should he contact Katina requesting backup? But would their ships even last long against the jets they fought? Peppy had so many questions. But the guilt upon leaving Falco, Fox, and Krystal alone on Arsenal. If they go back will the ships that were hiding in plain sight ambush them again? Peppy knew he needed to call someone he trusted. The one and only Slippy. He put his finger upon his ear, subconsciously contacting Slippy.

140.96

"Slippy here!"

"Slippy! Thank god, you've picked up"

"What's up Peppy? Is something wrong?"

"You can say that, we got our asses hand to us"

"Really? What happened?"

"We encountered several unknown black fighter jets. They exceeded the Arwings battle performance. We couldn't keep up."

"Alright....."

"Slippy we could use the back up. I haven't contacted Katina to have back up, but we need you"

"Okay Peppy. What about Fox? And Krystal? Falco?"

"Falco go shot down and is aboard Arsenal. Falco told me, Fox and Krystal are flying to an island. Somewhere near Mouth Kotula. They think that's where the hostages are."

"I've finished my project. I'll be there as fast as I can! In the meantime, rest for now."

Peppy said his goodbye and hung up. He released his finger from his ear. He took a deep breath. Peppy couldn't get to planning what he can do next. Everything was going to shit, so quickly. Every decision mattered. Every second could not be wasted. What he and Fay did could mean life or death for Falco. Possibly even for Fox or Krystal.

Fay paced back and forth deciding on what to do. Fay couldn't figure out what they were. Those black fighter jets really put a dent into their mission. She went through her codec. She called Falco first.

"Falco?"

"Fay? What's wrong?"

"What do you mean what's wrong? Are you okay? You're not badly hurt are you?"

"No, I'm good, a bit of stress on my left arm but other than that, I can walk."

"Alright, what's the plan?"

"Fox and Krystal are heading to an island that supposedly holds the hostages. They were apparently transported, I don't know why though." 

"Do you think they don't need them anymore? You don't think they..."

"No, I don't think so. They must have been moved to not be disrupted. I'm gonna check things out more. Everything seems off, there's barely anyone here."

"Why?"

"It's like many of them evacuated as they pulled us into something."

"Be on your guard Falco.", Fay hung her conversation with Falco. She looked upon Aquas from afar aboard the Great Fox. There were so many situations going through her mind. she put her hand onto the glass.

_Guys just hold out a little bit longer_

__________________________________

Fox and Krystal carefully made their way onto the connecting bridge between L and K. Fox held up his blaster waiting for someone to approach from Strut K. Krystal was behind. Fox can feel a chilling breeze past through them. His thoughts jumping from one event to the other. Him waking up, his argument with Falco, meeting Bill, drinking and....No. Fox took that memory, he stored it in a vault. He imagined himself tossing the vault into the seas of Aquas. The exact planet he was on. Fox refused to think about that night. That night was stupid, completely idiotic of that to happen to him.

_I'm sorry......_

Fox blinked forcefully. He set his task back on what he was doing. He stopped a bit. Krystal did the same. Monkey see Monkey do. Fox felt the air tense up. A wind that was not welcoming. He pointed his blaster at the entrance of Strut K. Krystal can feel Fox become agitated. She saw his tail swoosh with anxiety. Krystal perked up her ears. She focused her mental energy on the entrance of the Strut but was greeted with a mind filled with blood and murder. It made her jolt a bit. Krystal readied her staff. She knew exactly who it was. No way no how. Fox stepped a bit closer.

*clap*

Fox hesitated from walking._ A clap filled with confidence_. He heard heavy boots jingle. A step that was forced. _A sign of intimidation. _Fox switched his blaster back to the red color. He knew this person needed to be taken down. No set amount of therapy can be fixed a mind that was so deep in the drain, you couldn't use pipe cleaners to pull it out.

*clap*

*clap*

*clap*

A figure appeared from the corner of Strut K. Fox observed what he was seeing. The unknown figure was wearing a dark burgundy tank top. His black sleeveless jacket along with his black gloves indicated he was no ordinary being. His black pants with clinking heavy booth. That green scaly skin. Fox looked in shock. He didn't see that face in years. Krystal saw two Sais along the green creature's belt. Krystal gasped. 

"Good show Star Fox! You never fail to disappoint. But now things are wrapping up a bit quicker than expected and I need to clean up the leftovers."

Fox couldn't deny it. His eyes weren't deceiving him. This was a chameleon.

This was Leon Powalski

________________________________

Wolf and Panther peered around one corner. They manage to make their way to the bases elevator. Wolf had to knock out a couple of soldiers and Miyu hacked through several panels. It wasn't easy but they succeeded. Panther felt like he was more along for the ride than anything else. He didn't really like that feeling. He felt so useless. Panther thought what he could do, to at least. make himself useful. Wolf noticed how one of the security guards peered his eyes into an eye scanner. The elevator quickly guided a security camera to the guard. It made a couple of snapshots like a camera would; before making a beep to let the soldier in. Wolf turned around to face his teammates.

"Alright, we'll need a guard we can knock out. Security is a bit tight in this area. The entrance was a piece of cake but this place within the core is gonna be a bit tedious. We need outfits and the right gun. It seems we won't be able to get through without them."

Miyu thought of something. She scratched her head. She wasn't sure how they can approach. Her ears lit up. "Alright, boys watch and learn. Let me show you a real lady does it!", Miyu stood up from crouching adjusted her t-shirt she was wearing. She loosened her green pants bit. She flicked some of her fur up. Wolf and Panther looked in confusion.

"Wolf use your eye, are there any nearby guards?" Miyu hopped a bit warming up. Wolf removed his eyepatch to do a digital data scan, followed by a thermal view. He saw three figures standing in some sort of lounge room. Wolf turn off the modes and put back his eye patch. "There are three guards, perfect for each of us. We can do an ambush! Good thinking Miyu!"

Miyu shook her head. "No you guys just follow me, stay close and wait for my signal!", Miyu rushed from the corner putting herself around the wall to avoid getting seen by the elevator camera. Wolf and Panther did the same. Miyu backed up along the wall near the lounge. She peeked a bit seeing two soldiers relax, and one arguing with them to get back into position. Miyu winked at the lupine and feline. She handed her blaster to Wolf and her reflector.

"Watch and learn boys"

Miyu walked into the lounge room. Wolf tried to stop Miyu but Panther withheld them. Panther knows what Miyu is about to do.

"Why did you stop me?", Wolf asked

"Just watch!" Panther countered.

Miyu started to sway her hips left and right seductively. The two soldiers who were sitting on the couch drew their guns. The third one turned around stunned at the lynx's appearance. Miyu winked and smiled showing her bright white teeth. "Hello, Boys!"

One of the soldiers stepped forward. "Hold it right there! Who the hell are you!"

Wolf facepalmed. _ Oh my god this dumb bitch is gonna get us killed. _

Panther looked in amusement. _Oh my, those hips are something else!_

One of the soldiers approached her, "I said who are you? Where did you come from? That mumbo jumbo won't work on us!"

Miyu grinned. She pressed her palm against the soldier's chest. Miyu chuckled. She looked down at all of the soldiers' groin areas.

"I'm the little toy the boss sent it to get you guys to relax. Come on you soldiers must be so tense. I just want to make your shifts easier!" The second soldier lowered his gun a bit. Miyu knew he was falling for it. Miyu walked past them laying her full body on the couch. She pushed out her rack as best as she can. She was a bit flat but she tried to make it work. The third soldier chuckled.

"Alright let's do a little search. We'll make sure you're used juuuuuust right.", The second soldier dropped his gun on the table, slowly raising his hand upon her leg. The first soldier rubbed his crotch a bit, The three of their chest starting to build up, pheromones going wild. Miyu can sense them, that's why she's waiting just for the right time. The third one felt her small breast. He giggled a bit weird.

"Slinky girls like you are my type hehe hehe." He gave them a little squeeze.

The first soldier started to unbuckle his belt. "Alright let's use the lying bitch before we show her to the boss. I don't think she is saying what she saying you know?"

Miyu lowered one of her fingers to signal Wolf and Panther to slowly approach from behind. Wolf equipped his blaster turning it around so it's butt would deal the blow. Panther twirled his raising it. Miyu quickly got up, pushing one of her hands through the first soldiers pant grabbing his member. She gagged internally.

"Oh, a bit eager aren't we?"

"NOW!" Miyu screamed.

Wolf and Panther simultaneously knock the second and third soldier completely out. Both mirroring each others action. Once they landed with a thud, the first soldier tried to grab his gun, but Miyu gave his member a hard twist. He screamed in pain. Miyu got up pushing the soldier against the wall. Miyu made eye contact.

"Wolf! Panther! Get dressed. Their uniforms are baggy so there's no need to take off what you have now! This building has AC you won't overheat."

Miyu pulled knife from her back pocket, lightly putting the cold steel against the soldiers balls. The soldier shrieked in terror.

"NO NO NO NO NO NO PLEASE!" The soldier raised his hands in surrender. Miyu pressed the knife a bit deeper but not enough to pierce through. The solider started to whimper. Miyu gave the soldier a murderous glare.

"Unless you want to be castrated, then I suggest you do what I say!"

Wolf and Panther finished getting dressed. Miyu looked back to confirm.

"Alright listen up! You're gonna walk up to that eye scanner and you'll look through them! After that, you'll walk right to me! Don't even try anything!", Miyu ripped the radio off the soldier's vest and tossed it aside. The soldier nodded in agreement. Panther stretched a bit.

"This feels like a small. My legs are so tightly restricted. Wolf switch with me" Panther requested.

"No" Wolf rejected the feline's offer.

Miyu dragged the solider, now the knight against his throat, still grabbing his soft member and made their toward the eye scanner. Panther cocked the rifle they were carrying. Panther admired the craft.

"Look Wolf these guys have an Opticor Assault rifle! Very nice" Panther felt the lightness within the weapon. Wolf tossed the rifle over his shoulder.

"Let's get this over with."

Miyu threw the soldier into the eye scanner. She kept her distance so she wouldn't get spotted. He opened his eyes the best he could, letting the red laser slowly record the date movement in his eyes. The camera took a few snapshots of the rifle and uniform. There was a warming beep and the elevator door opened. Wolf put his arm on the sensor, allowing the door to be stuck for a bit. Panther rushed in looking at the buttons that were available. Miyu knocked out the soldier, quickly undressing him so she can put on his clothes. Once she was done she tossed the body in a nearby cleaning closet.

"Will you hurry up! There could be more on the way!" Wolf rushed Miyu. Miyu dusted off the beige-colored uniform and walked in. Panther hit B2. Miyu nodded to herself.

"I'd say that went really well!", Miyu playfully slapped Wolf in the shoulder with the hand she grab the soldiers dong with. Wolf glared at Miyu. She wasn't responding to the intimidation. Wolf looked forward again, pulling down on the mask the outfit came with. It shifted upwards. The clothed mask didn't really fit him. Wolf thought back to how hard the soldier's member was before Miyu grabbed it.

_To be honest, he was kinda big_


	12. XII

Fox and Krystal can see the wicked smile upon the chameleon. Leon continued with the slow claps until he was a bit of distance from Strut K. Fox can see how sharp his new weapons were. Fox didn't see a sniper on his enemies back. It seems that Leon either wanted to talk (which probably wasn't the case) or he wanted to get in close and personal. Those Sais were sharp. It looks like they were sharp enough to slice through even the toughest types of metal. Leon started to giggle, then he started to laugh, soon he enough he started to burst out in laughter. It's like his mental health wasn't even present. He wasn't Leon, it was something using Leon as a costume. Leon wiped a tear from his face. He flicked away. 

"Your faces upon seeing me, fucking hell it's priceless!" Leon dug his hands into his pockets. He eyed Krystals new weapon. He hummed in amusement.

"Krystal I see that you've gotten a new rod", Leon laughed at his own joke. Krystal pointed the staff at him. Fox held his blaster up. Leon walked a bit forward.

"Leon explain just what the hell is going on?", Fox asked getting a bit of a trigger finger. He wanted to really shoot a hole right through Leon's head. Leon started making a tsk sound with his mouth. Krystal took a breath. The sea levels were getting rougher with each second The air getting more chilly. A dangerous aura shooting from below them. Krystal wanted to get out of here. But Leon wouldn't make things easy.

"Star Fox, clueless as always. You can have Arsenal back. We're done with it anyway. You guys should have come a bit earlier, I tell ya it was one hell of a ride!" Leon started to pull out his Sais. Fox tightened his grip on his blaster.

"Don't even try it, Leon! I knew Star Wolf was playing a part in this!", Fox assumed if Leon was here then Wolf and Panther were here as well. But he noticed sort of confused look, but it was overwritten with a dangerous beam in Leon's eyes.

"Star Wolf? Oh please, I left that shitty team. Wasn't feeling it you know? I needed something more. I needed more danger. I got bored of waiting on my ass all day. So I decided to pack it up and leave!", Leon explained.

_So Wolf isn't here...Good...he kept his promise--Hopefully. _Fox thought to himself. The connecting bridge started to shake a bit, causing Krystal to lose her footing a bit. Fox grabbed her arm, steadying her. Leon didn't move a single inch. He kept his balance. He was a chameleon after all. Leon looked down into the water. He hummed to himself. He twirled his Sais.

"It seems that it's getting more hostile. Good. Things are going well according to the plan. If you guys are planning to go somewhere, don't even bother. Feel free to take me 2 on 1." Sai got into his battle stance. Leon was ready for blood to spill onto his face. Every time he killed his enemies he would rub their blood on his face, believing he can obtain the person's skills and power. He had an acquired taste. "Tell you what.." Leon was ready to make a bet.

"If you can beat me, I'll explain our plans, if not then I'll skin your bodies while you're dying from blood loss. I'll start with the blue one. Krystal come here!",

_THIS GUY IS BATSHIT INSANE, _Fox mentally screamed.

Krystal stepped forward a bit. She twirled her staff to her side. She stopped Fox from grabbing her.

"Looks like I'm today's pick. Fox you go on ahead. I'll catch up with you.", Krystal turned back giving a smile of confidence.

Fox bit his lip. Krystal was going to go head-to-head with Leon. But he didn't know how she would fare against him. Leon can blend in but Krystal can read his thoughts possibly predicting Leon's next move. Was it an even match? He didn't want to leave his friend behind. What if she loses? What if Leon actually succeeds in killing her? Fox shook his head. He couldn't lose her, not on a place like this. He looked at his wrist, wanting to pull up his Arwing. He dropped the thought.

"No Krystal you're crazy! I'm staying by your side!", Fox readied his blaster at the chameleon.

"Fox there is no time to debate! The hostages need you! I'll deal with this psycho! I'll join you shortly!" Krystal raised her voice at Fox. She meant it. Fox knew he couldn't change her mind. She was dead-set on fighting Leon. Fox pulled up his battle wrist again and called his Arwing. Fox looked down seeing his Arwing autopilot his way toward him. Fox hopped off the connecting bridge landing into his seat. He put his holster one, grabbing his handle and levitating his Arwing slowly until he was settled in. Fox gave a worried look to Krystal. Krystal nodded to him. She waved her arm signaling him to get to Mount Kotula. Fox felt guilty about leaving her behind. Fox did a 180 with his Arwing and flew following the coordinates they found together.

Krystal saw her friend slowly disappeared from the horizon line. She turned back to face Leon. Leon licked his lips. She knew he was getting a kick out of this. Krystal pointed her staff in front of her getting into her stance. Leon tossed his Sais upward jumping up and catching them again flipping closer to Krystal.

"Just to let you know, I'm not afraid to kill women, I've done it before"

"Likewise. BRING IT YOU CREEP!"

Krystal and Leon charged at each other.

_________________________________________

Falco went onto the connecting bridge from Strut B to Strut C. He was almost making his way to the huge core on the first half of Arsenal. Falco was halfway through the bridge until the bridge started to shift and wobble. Falco tried to steady himself but tripped onto the floor. His head hit the back of the cold, steel floor. His held it in pain. He struggled to get up. He cursed to himself. He had a massive headache but he needed to follow his leader's orders. He made his way into Strut C. This strut was built differently. He noticed when he walked into there was some plants nearby the door and two bathrooms. A male one on the left and the female one on the right. There was a long narrow hall. He prepped himself and made his way down the hallway, triggering a sensor opening up a door. He was a bit startled. He glanced in. There was a kitchen. Once Falco had his sights on the kitchen, his stomach activated his instincts and made him walk in.

Falco held his hand up to his stomach. He was hungry. In fact, he didn't really eat anything before this mission started. Falco put his blaster away for a bit. He looked a bit deeper into the large kitchen. There were a couple of packets of canned soup in one of the drawers. There were beans right next to them and a nutrition bar. He snagged the nutrition bar. He gobbled it up as quickly as he got it. His hunger satisfied for the meantime, he continued his way eventually reaching the core. He made his way to the long narrowing bridge between Strut C and the core. Falco saw a camera observing a camera monitoring the entrance to the core and fucking shot that shit. The camera exploded. Falco approached the door. It slid open. Falco put us his blaster. He observed how chilly it was in there. Falco walked through the core trying to find anything that would give them the upper hand. Those weird fighter jets were still out there hiding; Waiting for Peppy and Fay to come back. Maybe even to wait out Falco to kill him. They were being too silent, it was creepy.

Falco found a computer room. He sat down to look through it but the moment he sat down he got a codec call from Fox.

"Fox what's up?"

"FALCO! How are things on your end?!"

"Good. I haven't had any resistance so far."

"Quick, there's no time, I need you to get to Krystal on the connecting bridge between L and K!"

"She in danger?!"

"She's fighting Leon!"

"WHAT!?"

"Falco I don't know what's going on but ditch whatever you're doing get to that location immediately!" 

"Are Wolf and Panther with him?"

"No just Leon, He left Star Wolf! I'll explain later but help Krystal!"

Falco ran out of the chair, running to get to Krystal. _So I knew it was him! Leon was behind this whole thing? No, there's no way he could have planned this whole thing out. _Falco ran as fast as he could, he made his way out of the core. There was no time to waste.

_____________________________

Peppy and Fay were still aboard the Great Fox. Fay's patience was running thin. She couldn't wait any longer. Peppy can see her agitation. A strange but irritating feeling arose in his left pec. Peppy did some quick thinking he just needed some air. Peppy clutched his chest a bit. He was used to being put under high stress situations, but this took a toll on his heart. He took some nitroglycerin pills earlier. He didn't think he'd need them again this early. His body was getting old, he was reaching his fifties. Eventually he would just be an old war dog. Peppy took a deep breath, trying to relax, except that he couldn't. Fay finally broke the long silence that was between them aboard the Great Fox.

"I'm heading back down there Peppy"

"Fay wait--"

"That's the thing Peppy we can't wait any longer! You'd said that Slippy would be here any moment now, but it's been 20 minutes! Falco, Fox and Krystal could be having their last breath at any minute!", Fay pouted. She was just a few moments away from walking away storming off to her Arwing.

"I'm sure Slippy is almost here! We're outclassed, even if we were to head back down there, we would be exactly in the same position we were in a half-hour ago!", Peppy coughed a bit. He felt the rapidness short of breath in his voice. Fay can see he was struggling to talk. Fay placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Peppy you have to stay here but, I'm heading back down there." Fay firmly placed both her hands on the hare's shoulders, making sure he stood in place.

Both of their codes started to beep. An incoming transmission was ringing in their ears loudly. Fay placed her fingers on her ear. Peppy sat straight up. He knew he would arrive! Peppy did the same action as Fay and waited for a familiar voice to make his way through. Slippy always came just in the nick of time. Slippy never had his time to shine. He would always be the last member to walk up and get medals. Slippy had it rough when it came to the fans. But all in all Slippy's intellect would save the day.

"Hey guys! Slippy here! Sorry to keep you waiting. Look out front!", Slippy's voice gave the members relief. The toad was here. If anyone could exploit these mysterious fighter jets, it would be the one and only Slippy Toad.

Fay ran toward the glass to see Slippy waving proudly through his cockpit glass. Fay's smile came back again, and glowing brighter than ever! Peppy could see Slippy's new Arwing from the couch. Fay was marveled on how big this Arwing was.

"Woah Slippy! Is that a new model of the Arwing! It looks so different!"

_Was this Slippy's new project? There's not much difference, besides design change and_ size. Peppy stood up slowly and made his way to the glass. Slippy was giving off a mischievous smile. Peppy squinted his eyes. The toad brought something else to the party.

"Check this out!" Slippy slapped his both his wrist together, making a glow effect. He shouted.

"ALL NEW RANGE MODE ACTIVATE!"

Slippy's new Arwing, started to shape and transform. It's gears quickly changing and adjusting to brand new positions. The Awrings cockpit shifted to a new position pointing a bit downward. The wings of the Arwing. Different parts started appearing out of nowhere. Arms were quickly forming, with crazy sharp robotic legs. This thing stood so tall. Slippy lowered this mecha to see Fay and Peppy again.

"Hop in your Arwings! We're going down there!"


	13. XIII

Krystal lunged her staff at Leon, but the chameleon was quick. He swayed his body in different ways, making all Krystal's attempts to stab him futile. Krystal twirled her staff back getting ready to twist around hitting Leon's sai. Leon flipped back and came charging back at Krystal, sai in handing swinging it down as hard as he can. Krystal stepped back quickly, she spun around taking advantage of the situation. She charged up her attack flicking her staff upwards hitting Leon right in the chin, causing his body to shoot upwards bit due to the force the vixen's strength. Leon regains his posture twirling his sais attacking Krystal with a flurry of attacks. His sais so thin and sharp; each cutting through the air leaving a stinging noise right after. Krystal ducked below dealing a nice hit to Leon's gut. Leon shouted in pain. He did a cartwheel distancing himself from her. Krystal didn't wait for Leon to recover she flung her staff back, charging toward the sadistic Leon. Leon smiled twirling around Krystal as she missed her attack, in the blink of an eye, he cut through her side. Krystal yelped in pain, stepping back a bit. She looked down at her side. A fairly sized cut showed itself on her waist. The cut was a bit thin but some blood trails were slowly dying her fur from blue to red. She looked up seeing Leon's mouth a bit open. He wasn't giving it his all, he was toying with her.

"What's wrong? You got quiet", Leon said in a sadistic tone. Leon licked his lips in anticipation wanting to see her slowly get weaker and weaker like a wounded deer. Krystal took a couple of breaths to try and take her mind off the immense pain she was in. The cut wasn't deep it was thick. Leon wanted to drain her. It was sickening, Krystal couldn't believe Star Wolf even had a person like that. Was Leon even a person? No, he was something else. Krystal adjusted her staff. She wasn't going to go down like this.

"Don't get cocky now Leon! The tides can turn at any second. Try me!", Krystal readied her self. Leon just laughed playing with his Sais. He held it up in front of his seeing the nice red stain upon his blade. He held it up higher. He took a bit of it and tasted it.

"Ahhhh, taste just like corn syrup. Nice and sweet.", Leon flipped forward rolling towards her, trying to stab her in the stomach. Krystal jumped up high, standing on the railing of the bridge. She hopped off, slicing Leon's back with her bladed staff. Leon continued rolling, now having his knee on the ground. He took in a deep breath. He giggled a bit. Leon stood up. Krystal looked in horror. No scream from Leon, nothing. It's like he didn't even feel the blade cut through his skin.

"That's what I'm talking about. Krystal you're refusing to accept your killer instincts! You're a warrior! You have so much potential, yet you waste it being with Star Falco! Not even Star Fox!", Leon gripped his Sais.

Krystal laughed a bit. "You idiot, that was just Falco joking around, The entirety of Star Fox is here! You're outnumbered. I can sense Falco coming here any moment!", Leon widened his eyes a bit. Okay so Star Falco wasn't a thing, but he quickly grinned hearing that Star Fox was here. Leon cackled.

"Do you know why you were met with so little resistance? Like I said we're done with Arsenal. Majority of the soldiers evacuated; you guys came in a bit to late. This pathetic mining rig is about to be underwater in--I'd say bout 15 more minutes. I can squeeze in about 10 minutes. After all it's wasn't Arsenal we were after it. Just something we needed to get the ball rolling. " Leon started twisting his waist left and right. Krystal realized something else.

_Leon was just warming up. _

Then another thought hit her

_It's true, Leon wasn't bullshitting. Something is making its way up. It's big. VERY BIG _

"Leon explain! What the fuck is going on?", Krystal knew the question didn't matter. She dove into Leon's head, rummaging through memories. Anything to indicate who Leon was working for, what they doing and who this was organization? Her eyes kept growing as the amount of information she was getting was giving her chills up her spine. Leon noticed the abrupt change in body language.

Leon grinned showing sharp teeth, sharp as his sais. "Did you like what you saw going through my mind? It's not all of it, but I think you understand what we're trying to do." Leon spun his sais. He was getting ready to truly rip his enemy apart. Krystal took a deep breath. If she was going to die, she will be going out swinging. Krystal can hear boots going against lifeless steel. Krystal smiled in boldness. Falco was here, and now Leon was in for a big beat down. Leon looked back to see a familiar blue pheasant. He jumped a bit in excitement. A voice shouted in anger.

"LEOOOOOOOOOOOONNN", Falco pointed his blaster at Leon, eyes filled with anger. Leon turned to face Falco. He held up his hands presenting himself like he was in a talent show.

"Falco! Good to see you too! You were a bit late to the reunion. Though it wasn't the one I wanted, I'm not picky. Now can I have the battle I wanted. A 2 on 1!", Leon crossed his sais in an x waiting for both members to make their move.

Falco fired a couple of shots, with Leon spinning deflecting each shot with his sais. Krystal came swooping aiming for Leon's head. Leon ducked elbowing Krystal. She backed off, Falco made his way closer to Leon giving off a few more shots. Leon ducked once, jumping around a bit. He was the air both Sais pointing downward ready to stab Falco. Falco back off, making Leon miss. He aimed his blaster again, but Leon was too quick. Leon sliced his weapon cutting it in two. Falco was astonished. His Arwing was down and out; blaster completely cut in two and now Leon was going to kill him. Falco bent down hitting Leon's sai with his metal boot causing him to flinch. Leon stepped back a bit. Leon twirled back regaining his footing.

"You have gotten rid of my blaster Leon, but I still have my kickboxing!" Falco had his wings getting ready to brawl. Leon looked back at Krystal who was closing her proximity with him. Leon slowly walked back toward one of the railings. Falco noticed the unusual behavior.

"Leon what are you doing?", Falco asked

"Sorry guys looks like time passed a bit faster than I expected. Big boy is about to come up." Leon jumped backward falling off the connecting bridge. Falco and Krystal tried to catch him only to be pushed back by a big gust of air. Falco looked in horror. Krystal dug her staff into the floor maintaining her balance.

Leon was on the wings of the fighter jets.

________________________

Fox finally made it to the base located near Mount Kotula. He was closing in on his target. Fox can feel his chest tighten. Things weren't going so smoothly. Falco's Arwing was shot down, Leon was fighting Krystal and Peppy and Fay retreated back to the Great Fox. Fox's thoughts were just as rough as the tides of Aquas. Fox keep thinking back to different conversations he had with some of his teammates. And his Rival. Fox needed someone to take him away from everything. No, he needed to take a long vacation. Perhaps he should give leadership to Falco for a while, give him that freedom he wanted for years. After all, Falco had been wanting to do his own thing for a while. So bit by bit Fox would let him do solo missions. Falco hasn't failed one yet. Falco could hold his own. Fox went through his memories only to cringed at the thought when Falco was able to point out, that he was flirting with him. He felt embarrassed even though no one was around.

He shook his head. _Own your sexuality! Own it! I'm gay and I like dick. But what if Peppy reacts harshly? No, he couldn't, he practically raised me. I don't need to tell everyone on Corneria. Falco is fine with it; Krystal figured it out on her own, and I think Slippy will be okay with it. So why am I feeling this way? I don't think General Pepper needs to know. We don't really talk to him only other than missions. _

_I'll be there for you no matter what, that's what friends are for_

_I can tell you that no one will care all day..but it's you who needs to accept you are._

_Talk to someone...someone you trust _

Fox wondered if anyone was going to make it back alive. He couldn't believe how this mission was going. What was going on? What was Ebirah? What was Leon doing on Arsenal? Fox's ears perked up again. He heard faint turret shots. His radar was beeping indicating incoming fire. Fox leaned far to the right to avoid the shots. Fox knew he arrived at the right place. Who else would shoot at the first sight of an Arwing? Fox dived down to observe the area of the base yet maintaining a safe distance. A big radio tower near the end of the base. It was surrounded by a heavy fortress of tall concrete walls. He can see each tall tower with a turret. Fox spun around diving down aiming his shots at one of the turrets. Fox quickly flew up, turning around to avoiding a missile

Fox needed to make sure he didn't do much damage. The hostages were inside. His Arwing started beeping. A quick and rapid beeping that was urgent. Fox looked on his radar to see a dot randomly appear when he blinked. He looked forward. Fox needed to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming. A black fighter jet slowly appearing before him. Fox growled a bit.

_So this is what shot Falco down. _

"Alright tough guy, show me what you've got!_"_

______________________________

The trio can feel the slight movement of the floor shift as their body shook a bit due to small vibrations. They were almost there. They were on the floor as the same group of people they needed to take out. All they had to either scare them off or destroy them. Wolf was starting to get the feeling that there was going to be one option. Panther looked up, only to be met with the ceiling.

"Looks like there is a battle going up on the surface. You think another force is looking for this group too?", Panther asked. Panther's nose twitched a bit as if trying to get a scent. Miyu looked a bit down the hall. She saw a soldier using an eye scanner, waiting for the beep before walking into an unknown room. Miyu stepped back out of sight. She let Wolf and Panther finish speaking first.

"Possibly, whoever this group is, they sure are in some deep shit", Wolf adjusted his rifle a bit. The thing was a bit heavy and eventually, Wolf's fingers were starting to give out a bit. Wolf switched to his other shoulder to lay the rifle on there. Miyu made a noise to get their attention. She pointed down.

"Look, if my data is right, the group should be in there. I'm not sure how heavily armed they are, but that is where we need to go." Miyu walked first, with the other two trailing along. Miyu stood up a bit straighter, restricting her swaying. Wolf was trying to piece a lot of things together, but the puzzle was a 1000 piece puzzle.

_Why does Forda need this group gone? Who the hell is shooting from above the surface? Is this group really armed? Are we falling into a trap? What was Forda planning? The only thing I know is that Miyu is undercover, for this Forda guy trying to accuse him of stuff. So he's not a good guy. Miyu said Forda doesn't represent Katina, so he's under a different organization. But that's all I know. _

Wolf snapped out of his thinking for Panther to tap him on the shoulder. Wolf zoned out too much, He saw Miyu being confronted by a soldier. Miyu kept calm as always.

"Why are you three down here? Orders were given to you to guard the upper floors. We didn't call you guys down here! Scram!" The soldier pointed back to the elevator. Panther perked up on of his ears. He could have swore he heard someone grumbling in pain from the other side of the wall. Miyu replied to the soldier.

"We're sorry sir, thought we were needed someone radioed us to come down!", Miyu stepped a bit closer to the solider. Before they could open their mouth, Miyu took a jab to the throat of them, spun them around putting them in a chokehold. She pressed their head firmly against the eye scanner. There was a confirmation beep! Miyu etched Wolf and Panther to go.

"You guys go in! I need to take care of this guy!" Miyu pointed her finger into the room. Wolf walked in without hesitation and Panther nodded to Miyu before doing so.

The room was a bit dark but there were some forms of light. There were multiple tables around the room. There were only two guards perfect for the duo to knock each on out. But the strange part was there was no large group of people standing. Wolf made his way a bit further into the room. Wolf looked down to see someone tied up; eyes covered and mouth taped shut. Wolf was taken aback. He was sent in with Miyu to get rid of people, not hostages? Wolf signaled Panther to approach one of the guards and knock him the fuck out, to which Panther happily obeyed. Panther walked behind the soldier hitting his skull as hard as he could. Wolf wrapped his rifle around his soldier's neck, Panther ran over to snatch the gun away making sure to not cause any disturbance. Wolf squeezed just enough for the soldier to lose conscience but not be restricted from breathing. Wolf slowly let the body hit the floor. Panther noticed the figures on the ground tied up and taped. Panther looked at Wolf in confusion.

"Wolf they aren't armed they are just tied up?", Panther lowered his gun to removed the tape and blindfold from one person. He gasped for air finally being able to breathe properly.", Panther noticed something was off though. His pupils were dilated, the veins in his head throbbing in an unhealthy way. Panther tilted his head a bit. He grabbed the person's head putting it at an angle. A weird orange like crystal seemed to be stuck on his skin. It was small, very small but it glowed pretty brightly.

"Who are you guys? Are you okay?", Panther asked removing his mask. He can see a bit more clearly. It was nothing more than a male flamingo.

"Yes, we are. We're from Venom's mining and scientific team. You know Dash right? He and the Katinan government settled on a weird peace thing by collaborating together to build Arsenal. A mineral mining station.", the flamingo looked around. "Are you undercover good guys? Who do you guys represent?", the flamingo further asked.

Panther started to untie the flamingos' rope that was tightly on his hands. Wolf started to do the same for other people. Panther began to speak.

"No, we don't represent anyone. We're mercenaries, we were on a mission to get rid of the team who was supposedly harming Aquas waters. We were told they were armed and dangerous, but it appears we were entirely off.", Panther finished getting rid of the rope. The Flamingo stood up messaging his wrist. He started back in confusion.

"Harm? No our team was sent under orders to extract multiple minerals. Something that would beneficial to our planets defense forces. Aquas doesn't have anything to harm itself. No oil. Even then oil is not even used anymore. Only for cheap and near death vehicles. We were a much a bigger group, but then these people came and offed a lot of us. The rest of us were taken here to develop a weird machine capable of mimicking some sort of monster. Like soundwaves. The little machine was taken. After that all of us were knocked out by some gas, and then we were here tied up.",

Wolf was hearing a lot and things were falling into place but it wasn't enough. Panther and Wolf began to untie most of these group. They found a couple of dead ones. Those who were dead died from rebellion. Wolf walked to the flamingo to ask some questions.

"We're gonna get you out of here, but I need you to answer a few questions."

"Shoot"

"You represent Venom right?", the flamingo nodded.

"Alright, so this Arsenal thing. Where is it?"

The Flamingo pointed in a direction that was to their left. "It's not far from here. Just a couple miles this way. Who is your contractor if you're mercenaries?"

Wolf stopped for a moment before answering.

"He's a hyena. Name is Forda other that, we don't know much about him."

The Flamingo gawked a bit. Wolf wasn't sure how to respond. But he knew one thing. Everything startled to properly fall in place.

"Forda? As in Forda; the lead scientist who mysteriously vanished on Venom about a week and a half ago?"


	14. XIV

The connecting bridge started to rumble. Falco and Krystal were both stumbling around, trying to adjust their footing to the constantly shifting terrain. Krystal leaned against one of the railings. With her staff in hand, she stabbed a new spot in the cold and wet steel of the connecting bridge. Her wound made contact with the railing, she yelped in pain, trying to keep her balance. Falco fell once more on his face. He stood there for a few minutes, but to no avail, he slowly tried to get himself standing again; only to slip and fall once more. Krystal looked deep into the water, seeing a black figure presenting itself. It's small black dot growing bigger and bigger, there was no end to it. Krystal can see how high the splashes of water were getting, each wave clashing with one another. Krystal's eye grew with shook and horror. Something was on it's way to breaching the surface, a red like shell slowly appearing inch by inch. The water becoming more agitated with his second. Krystal made a few whimpers; attempting to take her eyes off of it however she felt as if she couldn't. A sick spell cast by the water. Falco can see her back, with her looking downward. She didn't move, not even a single muscle. Falco shouted attempting to get her attention. The sound of water and metal shifting overshadowing his powerful voice.

"KRYSTAL! KRYSTAL WHAT DO YOU SEE DOWN THERE?! WHAT IS IT?!", Falco shouted but to no avail. Either she was too scared to respond or was ignoring her.

Krystal can see more red appear. It wasn't blood, no blood was darker. This was pure red. A mighty crusher claw appearing breaching the surface of the water. Falco can see this mighty red pincer open itself casually started crushing Strut K. Falco saw how the roof of Strut K quickly giving in. His feathers ruffled. Water now reaching the bridge soaking a big of his pants. Krystal stumbled backward landing on her back. She fumbled backward seeing this mighty beast of a creature. A loud ear-piercing screech cut through the hair, hurting both Krystal's ears. She covered them. Falco saw how tall this thing was. Another crusher claw appeared, now making its way onto Strut L. Leon gleamed with energy. It was here. Leon shouted to Falco.

"ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL FALCO? LOOK AT IT'S FEROCIOUS SIZE. THE MIGHTY GOD OF THE SEAS, EBIRAH!", Leon hit the glass of the black fighter jet. The cockpit glass arched forward revealing another seat for him. Falco turned back to catch a glimpse of a blue cat with a bit of blond hair, only for it to be hidden again by the tinted jet glass. Leon buckled himself in.

"Alright, let's get out of here, we gotta let the boss know that device worked. It is back in Forda's hands?"

"Yes"

"Good, let's hightail it. Hey, Harrier two, Harrier three reported that he's dealing with Fox...why don't you have your fun with these two? We're leaving the area for now"

"Understood. Harrier Two out"

The black fighter jet backed away turning around, using a strong thrust of diffusion to fly away. It darted up using its stealth camo to vanish from sight. Falco turned back to see Ebirah once more. A horror of the deep finally awakening from its long slumber. Falco had no idea that Aquas was holding such creatures. It's antennas sharp as needles. Its big black eyes felt like it was piercing threw Falco's soul. Falco crawled to Krystal who was still in the same position. He grabbed her arm and shook it.

"KRYSTAL DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR ARWING?!", now that he was closer he snapped Krystal out of it. She looked back to face him.

"YEA I DO! I'M CALLING IT NOW. IT'S NEAR THE WATERS OF STRUT L, ONLY A COUPLE OF SECONDS!" She brought her battle wrist up tapping a few things. In less than a second her Arwing appeared facing both of them. Falco hoisted her up. She shortened her staff to make hit fit back onto her belt. Krystal hopped in, with Falco sitting behind. There wasn't much space, and there was only one seat; so Falco was practically squeezing himself in. The bridge gave way to falling down into the waters.

Another ear-piercing scream came from the crustacean looking straight at the Arwing. Ebirah ripped apart both Struts with ease. Ebirah made its way to the stationary Arwing. Falco tapped Krystal making her swing around, activating some switches making the Arwing gain turbo speed.

"Is that Ebirah?" Falco asked gasping for a breath of air.

"I think so! That must be what Leon is after!" Krystal put two and two together.

"Yeah but why? Is Ebirah really a god?" Falco responded back with another question.

"I don't know but we do need to contact Fox!"

The Arwing quickly flew away from the creature. However, Ebirah was slowly bending its chest back arching upwards. The water started to rise once more creating small tidal waves. Ebirah shot out an intense beam of water from its mouth that caught up to the Arwing in no time. It hit the Arwing with such precision bringing down the Arwings shield.

"WHAT THE FUCK THIS THING CAN SPIT OUT WATER LIKE A FIREHOSE?" Falco yelled. Krystal struggled to get the Arwing to shift back into flight. She can feel it gathering up water for another blow. She flew up only for her wing to be shot at. Krystal jolted from the impact.

"Dammit, I'm hit! It's one of those jets! Goddammit at a time like this!", Krystal noticed incoming missiles on her radar. The beeping sound rapidly increasing with each second. Krystal flew down near the water level with the Harrier right on her. Krystal had an idea, but albeit a risky one. She started heading toward Ebirah. Falco squawked.

"ARE YOU, CRAZY WOMAN, YOU'LL KILL US BOTH!",

Krystal smiled to herself.

"Trust me!", Krystal said in her smooth voice. Falco suddenly grew quiet. She had a plan. Falco sighed hoping Krystal would get them out of this situation. Falco noticed his bright silver jacket had some blood on it. He realized Krystal was still bleeding.

"Krystal you should have let me flew! You're losing blood!" Falco grew worried thinking she was going to faint from blood loss. Krystal shook her head.

"Nonsense it's only a scratch!" Krystal put the metal to the petal. Her Arwing flying closer and closer to Ebirah. Ebirah noticed the tiny Arwing flying towards him. Falco held onto Krystal's shoulder getting a firm grip. He didn't want to hit the top of Arwing's cockpit glass. Krystal twirled around Ebirah avoiding the long but slow attacks. The harrier had stopped trying to avoid Ebirah's crusher claw. It flew up passing Ebirah's face flying right over it. Ebirah screamed again, a scream so loud the water push itself away from it. The harrier fired a few more shots trying to aim for Krystal's damaged wing. Krystal barely avoided it making a firm grunt trying to regain control. She flew past some of the remaining struts flying underneath. Falco perked his head up.

"Krystal I have an idea! You think you can fly low enough for this damn thing to fly right under you?", Falco beak slowly formed a smile. He knew it would be a 50/50 but it had to work.

"I can try. But what are you planning to do?' Krystal asked. She started to cut through some spaces between Arsenal's columns flying around corners trying to get a nice place so that the Harrier would be underneath her. Falco waited patiently eyeing the Harriers movements. He slowly put his finger on the Open Cockpit button. Krystal saw through her peripheral vision but it was too late. Her hair flew black, her eyes quickly closing due to the mass amount of gushing hair hitting her face.

"Personally I prefer the air!", and without hesitation, Falco leaped out of Krystal's Arwing flying downward like a bomb. Krystal closed the cockpit staring off in silence as she just witnesses the bird throw himself out of the Awring. The harrier was coming in close perfectly aligning itself with Falco. Falco went into a ball easing his velocity. He swung his leg downward as hard as he can. The Harriers glass broke instantly exposing a soldier in pure shock. Falco smiled. He made a hole big enough to unbuckle the soldier and throwing him out of his own vehicle. Falco slipped in gaining control of the harrier. He noticed the layout completely different from that of his Arwing. Falco eased up onto the Harriers controls making it slow down a bit. He contacted Krystal through his codec. 

"Nice work Krystal!"

"Falco you crazy son of a bitch"

_____________________________________________

Fox perked up his ears. There was another scream. A loud pitched eerie scream. That type of scream to make his fur stand up on end. It was interrupted when the harrier shot at the vulpine. Fox had a hard time shaking the harrier off his tail, but he had no problem with it. He enjoyed the thrill of being able be this close to death. In way something he wanted. Fox used the Harriers fire to make it destroy some of the turrets. Fox smiled. _This Harrier has no idea what he's doing_. Fox swerved upward making a circle with the Harrier still flying forward. The hunter becomes the hunted. Fox started firing his vehicles blasters making contact with it. The shield deflected these shots, to Fox's surprise. It was like nothing. His shots were fly's attempting to fight a fly swatter. The Harrier wasn't taking any damage at all from Fox's point of view. Fox fired a heavy nova blast from his ship hoping that it would do at least some damage. The Harrier got struck in the right-wing, flying off in a random direction. Fox knew he had them. Fox did a hard turn with his Arwing making sure not to lose him. But when he stabilizes his Arwing it disappeared. Fox shook head making sure he wasn't seeing things. He looked around real quick making sure not to drop his guard. His radar beeped once more. Some of the turrets were still up and running. Fox pushed forward firing away to get rid of the remaining turrets only to take out one. He was to close to comfort with the other one. Fox can hear beeping in his ear. He answered his codec.

"Hello? This isn't a good time right now--"

"Fox! Krystal here, I'm heading your way, Falco seized one of the enemy ships."

"Got it, any damage report?"

"My right-wing has been damaged, I'm still able to fly but--

"No Krystal, I can't risk that it's too dangerous to fly back to the Great Fox in that condition, there should be an island nearby. It's a bit farther. Head there!"

"No but listen, Ebirah is a huge creature. Like a crustacean!"

"So Ebirah has been causing those screams for a while?"

"Yes! This thing is huge Fox. Arsenal was never the terrorist goal. It was Ebirah!"

"So what did that soldier---the one we took out mean when he said Arsenal used as a bargaining chip?"

"Probably to make Katina give up information about Ebirah. But that guess can be off--I'm not sure!"

_Those motherfuckers...._

Fox stood silent for a bit. He ended the conversation with Krystal, now focusing on taking out that last turret. However his job wasn't done yet, that mysterious harrier was still out there. He needed to find it. He flew still for a few minutes, waiting for it to show itself. He can see a black jet making his way towards him.

_Bingo _

Fox fired off a heavy blast from his Arwing, seeing it racing to the Harrier. The Harrier quickly dodge it without ease. Fox can hear his codec beep once more. He put his finger to his ear.

"HEY YOU MORON, I'M ON YOUR SIDE!", The pitch was loud enough to hurt Fox's eardrum. Fox rubbed his ear a bit.

"Falco is that you in there?"

"Yes it's me! Let me tell ya this seat is way comfier than our Arwing."

"Careful Falco, I'm--"

"FOX FLY DOWN BEHIND YOU!"

______________________________________

"You're saying Forda disappeared within Venom?"

"Yes. It appears to Dash that he was kidnapped. When Forda vanished he so happened to carrying a lot of Black Data with him."

"Black data?"

"Highly Confidential Information. For short it's Black data."

Wolf didn't know what to believe anymore. Did Forda want Wolf to kill these people? Wolf was on the good side of the law, he didn't feel like having a bounty on his head all over again. Corneria was able to dismiss all charges against Star Wolf for their assistance in the Lylat Wars. Life seemed to go so well, up until this point. It spat in his face. Wolf knew Forda was planning something. After all, hyenas always went this low. Panther finally untied all of the hostages. Wolf looked around to see a majority of them wearing white coats. Again and again he keeps seeing that weird orange crystal dot on them. Wolf pointed to the Flamingos neck.

"Do you know what that thing is on you?" Wolf asked. He was more curious as to why it looked like it wasn't stuck on the flamingos neck, but somehow growing out of him. Wolf found that a bit disgusting. The flamingo felt around his neck feeling the weird lump on him. 

"I'm not so sure, but I do plan to get rid of it once you help us get out of here." The flamingo adjusted his tie. Panther noticed that majority of the hostages were scientist. Panther walked up from behind Wolf.

"Wolf, didn't Forda say there were miners here as well?" Panther looked around. It was almost creepy. As if they were in some sort of twilight zone. Wolf turned back to Panther.

"Do you think they were killed? The ones who rebelled?"

The flamingo spoke up. He was in hearing distance so he wanted to shed some light. The flamingo fixed his lab coat.

"In a way yes. There were a lot more miners than scientist. Some jumped off of Arsenal, others tried to fight back, even a majority of us scientist got killed.We're all that's left. Wolf turned walking to the door. The door slid open revealing Miyu who was guarding the entrance. Miyu sighed in relief.

"Come on Wolf, let's get the hell out of here." Wolf nodded in agreement. Wolf and Panther escorted the scientist out of the room. Wolf saw a majority of the guards knocked out. Miyu went wild. No blood but a bunch of them sleeping loudly; some were even snoring. Wolf nodded his head in pride.

"Damn Miyu you really are something else", Wolf complimented on her skills.

"It was a piece of cake really. I took care of the guards on the other floors as well. We'll take a truck once we get to the upper surface. The garage has one truck left." Miyu explained.

The scientist weren't really scared at all. They were calm and collective. Usually people like these would freak out but they'd follow Wolf's orders. Staying behind, keeping quiet and laying low. Venom had trained their scientist well in terms of mental training, and emotional therapy; Just in case something like this were to happen, the scientist would not jeopardize the mission and act out of fear. They looked like they weren't breaking a sweat. They were ready to throw down. All of the scientist equipped themselves from the soldiers that were knocked out. Now Wolf didn't really need to worry about their well-being. The scientist was ready for anything that came across their path. Once they reached the surface level, they were hearing multiple shots from above. Miyu guided everyone back to the garage only to discover that the truck, she had for them disappeared.


	15. XV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the 14th chapter was a bit iffy to you. I'll make it up to you in this one :)

Miyu paced around the garage wondering where did the truck go. She swore it was in one of these parking spaces. They were in the cold vented closed garage once more. Wolf and Panther turned to face each other looking in confusion. Miyu started to mutter to herself. Miyu started to lower her head in shame. Her ears flopped. Miyu had a way for the gang to escape but now that was gone. They would have to find another way out. Wolf walked up to Miyu who was a bit ahead of them trying to find the truck. He placed a hand on one of her shoulders. Miyu pulled her shoulder away quickly; she didn't want any sympathy for a truck. She took a deep long sigh.

"Looks like we're going out the front. All side entrances have been sealed off due to the explosions happening outside. I don't know what's happening out there, but we're going to need to make a run for it.", Miyu cocked her rifle. Her finger slowly on the trigger of her assault rifle. The scientist cocked their rifles. Wolf and the squad approached the main entrance. More blaster shots were heard coming from outside of the base. The vibrations were strong enough to cause the lights to act up. Panther twirled his rifle before checking the ammo count. A full clip as expected. Wolf got rid of his disguise he had one. No use if they are going to run out in the heat. Miyu took hers off. There was no use for it anymore. Panther got undressed leaving his original attire on. Wolf turned around making sure everyone was present.

"We'll countdown to three then we make a break for it. Ready?", Wolf looked at the faces of everyone. Not a single one was pale, not a single one was breaking a sweat. Wolf grinned. The scientist was pretty hardcore in a way, and that inner thought made Wolf a bit delighted. A team of scientists who can work and fight at the same time. A combo he'd though that would never go together.

"3"

Panther cocked his rifle. His tail swishing back and forth. He can hear the roaring sounds of engines above them. A battle in the sky. He wanted to join the battle up there. This infiltration thing wasn't his style.

"2"

Miyu cracked her neck, feeling the intense bubbles pop in the creases of bones. She breathed in and out now more relaxed. She was a bit pissed that their escape method was gone. They were going to run out in the middle of a warzone.

"1"

The scientist leaned a bit forward ready to run.

"GO, GO, GO GO,!" Wolf shouted. He pressed a button letting the huge sliding doors open up quickly. Daylight was still present, the bright beams hitting all of them. The intense humidity and heat now exposed to them. Wolf looked out seeing smoke from knocked down turrets, bodies laying across the ground scattered. Wolf looked up to see a familiar ship dash across his eyesight with two mysterious black fighter jets following way. He can see the blue cockpit glass with its silver body. However the mysterious jets he did not recognize. Wolf tapped his wrist.

"Nomad quickly! Ascend into the sky! On my signal, send our Wolfens!"

"Affirmative", a robotic voice spoke back. Wolf installing an AI system into the Nomad with voice command was the best idea he ever had. He wasn't sure if the Great Fox had the same thing. 

Miyu gasped in shock. Miyu saw her truck that they were going to use in front of the base entrance. She saw a familiar hyena standing on top of a huge container. Miyu realized that it was Forda. He had the same outfit as always. He had a wicked grin on his face. His teeth showing; sharp like razorblades. He had a weird device in his hand. It was a small briefcase. He had it open--inside it were some buttons and screen on the other side. Wolf saw that smug looked and aim his rifle to Forda.

"FORDA! What the fuck are you up! What the hell is going on?", Wolf pointed his assault rifle at Forda, eyeing the hyena. All Forda did was laugh and continue to laugh. Even with the dogfight happening in the sky he didn't budge. Wolf snarled. He couldn't believe it, he shouldn't have taken this mission. The scientist gathered around Wolf aiming their rifles as well. Forda tapped a few buttons on his device, flicking a few switches. The weird briefcase device started to make weird sounds.

"Wolf! So good to see you! I honestly can't believe you made it this far! Honestly no hard feelings but I needed you guys for a test. And to get rid of someone else.", Forda slowly turned facing to Miyu. Miyu saw the look in his eyes. Those eyes saw through her. From the start, he played her. This Hyena was something else. Panther raised an eyebrow.

"A test? What are you on about?", Panther titled his head a bit. Forda rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"I have a lot of things to do so I'll be brief. We need something from Aquas. On the other hand Star Wolf you've given us plenty of combat data from those blue spiders you fought. And on top of that, I needed to get rid of Miyu anyway. She served her purpose. Thank you, Miyu. You gave me a nice peek into Corneria's defenses.", Miyu bit her lip.

Wolf didn't want to hear any more of this Hyenas bullshit. He started to fire his rifle trying to take down the wicked Hyena. But a green figure swept in deflecting every bullet with small blades. Wolf stopped shooting, lowering his gun to get a better look at the figure. Wolf couldn't believe it. It was Leon. Leon was working with Forda. Wolf felt betrayed. He thought Leon would better himself with leaving the team but the way he acted, all it took was money or a sense of bloodshed to lure him into the other side of the law. Panther's jaw dropped. He didn't expect Leon to just show up. 

"Arsenal is severely damaged. We've also lost of one our pilots to Star Fox. All soldiers are evacuated. We only have only last ship left." Leon spoke to Forda but not facing him, instead, he remained eye contact with his ex-leader. Wolf.

"No worries, We have plenty back at base.", Forda chuckled away.

"And of Ebirah?", Leon asked.

"We'll come back later. I expected to be outnumbered. After all, it wasn't Arsenal we're after." Forda helped one of his hands up high. Leon turned back to see what Forda was doing.

"Now my glorious creations come out of your shells!", Forda snapped his fingers.

There was a few seconds of silence. Wolf wasn't sure what happened but he could hear the flamingo grunt in pain. Wolf turned to face the group of scientist to only see that they were holding their heads in pain. The weird mysterious crystal started to glow. The crystal started to spread, inflicting pain among the group. Miyu backed away a bit trying to comprehend what was going on. Panther can feel a large gust of wind coming from behind them. He saw a black fighter jet slowly descend to Leon and Forda. The cockpit opened, giving a quick glimpse of a blue cat with blond hair. Forda hopped into the second seat. Forda sat up screaming to Miyu.

"Hey Miyu, you haven't seen your elephant friend in a while haven't you?", Forda hollered. Miyu turned to see Forda giving the creepiest smile she'd seen. She turned to Leon who was stomping his foot on the big green container. Leon hopped into the fighter jet squeezing himself in as best as he could. The cockpit went back into place, with the jet slowly rising once more. Miyu started firing at the jet but to no avail. A shield was in place protecting the jet from any firearm. Miyu heard a big clash from within the container. Panther can see how the scientist was transforming. Their fingers becoming crystallized claws. Bones snapping out of place revealing a different set of skin. A weird brown and ragged texture appeared on all of then. Bit by bit the lab coats they wore, were torn off by them. Large crystal spikes appearing along their spine. Wolf backed away to see how mutated and gross these things were. They had long legs and sharp orange claws. Wolf looked up to see that familiar ship again. He finally knew what it was.

It was an Arwing. Fox's Arwing to be precise. Probably on a different mission. Wolf didn't expect to see Star Fox here, yet he was a bit relieved. The trio slowly backed away from the now mutated scientist who had no sense of sanity anymore. The green container finally busted open to reveal a large figure. It's tusk now crystallized, and their body different skin colors. Miyu couldn't believe it. It was her friend. They took and experimented on him like a plaything. He grunted in agony wanting to be put out of his misery. Miyu stood still frozen. Her body stuck like it was glued onto the ground.

"Guys get ready they're coming! Miyu snap out of it! He's not himself anymore!", Wolf pulled on her shirt, waking her up from her trance. Miyu started firing at her owl pal. Each bullet tearing into him, only for it be met with a scream of agony. One of the scientists came in on Panther quickly slashing with extreme speed, Panther stepped quickly to left then the right. He jumped away firing a couple of shots into its body. Another one lunged at him in midair giving an ear-piercing scream. Wolf aimed carefully firing a bullet, landing a headshot. Panther rolled backward firing off. Some of the mutations dodge the bullets. They were spread out now. Miyu cartwheeled away from the mutated elephant's heavy but slow strike. She ran up taking advantage of putting the rifle up to her friend's chest firing away. He stumbled away looking down to see the large hole he had. The elephant screamed in anger now running to Miyu. Miyu can see the increased speed he had. She didn't have a chance to react. She was hit full-on, flying through the air. The hit was so strong that she lost her grip on her assault rifle. Miyu's vision was greeted with the smoke infested sky. She hit her back hard. Her breathing was stuck, she was trying to get some air into her lungs, but they were struggling to even function themselves. The elephant continued to make its way towards her. She couldn't move. Her body was focusing on trying to get any type of air into her lungs.

Wolf fired off more shots hitting more of the mutants, dropping them like flies. Panther looked over to see Miyu down and out. Panther ran to Miyu but was interrupted by a mutant was who was still standing, though it was filled with bullets.

"Wolf! Miyu is down, get to her!", Panther ducked town to avoid a swipe from the creatures. He landed a hit with the butt of the assault rifle. Wolf looked to see where Panther saw Miyu. He can see a large elephant walking slowly to Miyu. Wolf charged to the elephant, yelling to get its attention.

"Over here, you freak!", Wolf started pointing his assault rifle blasting it endlessly. The bullets hit the elephants back knocking from crystals from its spine. Miyu rolled up now being able to gasp for more air. The elephant turned around making eye contact with the lupine. It yelled as loud as it could, before running to Wolf. Wolf slid underneath the elephant's legs getting to Miyu. He pulled her up.

"Hey, you okay?", Wolf asked.

"I've been better. I don't want to kill him.", Miyu took a couple of breaths of air. She clenched her chest with her hand feeling the immense burn from the attack. Wolf can see the elephant turning around, now angrier than ever.

"We have no choice, it's us for them!", Wolf held up his rifle. Miyu can see her rifle across the battlefield. Miyu took out her blaster as a replacement. Panther took care of a couple more mutants.

"Miyu get ready he's coming right for us!"

__________________________________________

Fox and Falco can see from below the kind of show that was happening. But the Harrier was still on their tail. Falco fired a couple more shots hitting the Harrier. Fox appeared from above firing down a barrage of shots. The harrier spun around trying to avoid the rain of heavy fire, but to no avail. One of the harrier wings was hit. Falco saw another Harrier Jet taking off disappearing off into the distance. There was only one ship left. It was time to clean up.


	16. XVI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's weird I had more stuff attached to this chapter, when I posted it it vanished. Odd. Anyway I updated the chapter with a few more lines.

Fox chased after the damaged Harrier. He accelerated enough to be right behind the tail of the Harrier. The harrier was losing the battle and now it was time to finish off the jet. Falco took an offensive approach shooting at the harrier as much as he could. The shields of the harrier started to give until eventually, it was practically naked. Fox and Falco worked together to bring the jet down. The harrier was no match for its own kind to use against it and with the help of an Awring. The Harrier jet lost more parts until it practically was near death. Fox delivered blast after blast but nothing was exactly powerful enough to destroy it in one shot. The pilot did a 180 facing both Falco and Fox. Both in a standoff. The pilot requested a transmission to which both of the members answered.

"You're both pretty good but this is over!", the pilot said. Fox can sense the trembling in his voice. The pilot was about to pull something off. Fox didn't know what yet. Falco responded.

"That says a lot coming from the guy that is mere seconds away from his jet from blowing up!", Falco smiled growing cocky. The Pilot pulled off a nervous black. He flicked a few buttons and pulled a couple of switches. The harrier started to glow white. Fox was picking up on immense energy readings. Fox's eyes grew wider and wider with each pulse.

"Falco get away quickly! He's planning to blow himself up taking us with him!", Fox yelled into Falco's codec. Falco pulled on his jet to go backward.

"I'll see you all in hell!", the pilot screamed. Fox turned around trying to avoid the massive explosion that was about to come but he heard a huge slash cutting the air followed by an explosion. Fox never really heard that sound before. The immense electricity cackling from behind. He swerved back to see a mysterious robot flying. It had the same color scheme as the Arwings but this thing had sharp legs almost like spikes for feet. He can see the blue cockpit glass located in its chest. It's head giving an immense blue glare. Fox saw that it had metal sharp fingers. This thing was a work of art. He can see the bright blue energy sword in its left hand tightly secured by some sort of cuff. He saw a toad in there. He pressed 140.96 into his codec.

"Slippy? Is that you in there?", Fox asked. He heard a cheerful voice.

"Yep! Sorry, we're late to the party. Looks like you nearly left nothing for us! Check it out!", Slippy presented the robot being with open arms. Fox couldn't believe. He contacted Falco.

"Falco you seeing this?", Fox waited for the birds' response.

"Damn right. Holy shit that thing is amazing."

Just then two Arwrings appeared right alongside it. Peppy and Fay were right there. Fay waving to the pair. Peppy gave off a simple nod.

"Hey guys! Look at what Slippy has! It's pretty cool, isn't it!? Slippy went all out for this one!", Fay complemented on Slippy's new battle vehicle. A sight to behold, it was like being in a candy store. Fox focused his sight back onto the ground.

"Hey, guys check it. Look whats down there! Jesus, there's a bunch of bodies!", Falco was astonished. Fox focused his gaze more. He can see the damage battle turrets he destroyed. Falco was right there were bodies everywhere. He didn't know what to think. There were only four figures left. The battle down there was ongoing. He zooms in carefully from his Arwing. Fox went back into his seat.

_NO...No fucking way...Is that...Wolf? Wait....is... that...Miyu as well? Panther is there also. What the fuck are those three doing? And what is that monstrosity that they're fighting?_

Fox charged down getting a better glimpse of what was going on. He can see Panther firing some shots at the elephant. Wolf dodging heavy attacks followed with Miyu shooting her blaster. He hadn't seen Miyu in forever. Fox remembered Miyu telling him, that work was going to keep her extremely busy but he didn't think that she'd join Star Wolf. Or did she?

"Come on everyone! We're going down there!", Fox issued the team an order to which they replied. Fox had so many questions, for Wolf and the Council as well.

Star Fox dove down planning on interfering

_____________________________

"Explain why our satellites are picking up a large crustacean upon Aquas? What the in god's name are you hiding!", Beltino screamed through his augmented room. He was with General Pepper standing right next to him while Dash and the council's holographic silhouettes fuzzed a bit. General Pepper had his hands behind his back in a general fashion. Iznah responded. 

"We are aware Beltino, trust us our satellites picked up on it too. We have no information about that creature. We also received reports on Arsenals condition.", Iznah had her legs wrapped, with her fingers interlacing with the augmented scenery within the headquarters of Corneria's rooms.

"Okay, we could care less about that, but what about my team. You know the people ABOARD Arsenal?", Dash asked in a serious tone. Beltino never really heard him like this. Perhaps it was true. The ape did have a compassionate heart about his people. From the start of Venom's alliance with Corneria, Beltino was always the one on guard for making sure the ape wouldn't try anything funny. After all, it was him and General Pepper's decision to secretly send insiders to work within Venom's ways. Knight calmly answered the ape's question.

"Unfortunately we have no reports coming in that your team is there. However, there is a huge battle happening on another island. Star Fox is most likely retrieving your team along with the orders of regaining Arsenal, destroyed or intact--", Dash cut off the crow.

"Wait, wait, wait, I get the peace treaty between us, so obviously you were going to ask for Star Fox's presence and give them MORE orders than they had planned is that right? And yet I wasn't aware of this? And out of all things you'd rather have your stupid mining rig back rather than save those upon it? Are you shitting me?", Dash grunted growing frustrated with the Council's rash decision making. He never fond of that, he wanted communication between all three planets but no matter what both barely kept to their word.

"Even with the recon pilots reporting nothing, I told you that, I told you I would be meeting with Corneria to give Star Fox a mission. YOU people never told me you would request their presence. You never fucking told me that you would give them that mission! And now this big lobster thing comes into the equation and I don't know who to trust anymore. And what about my loyal scientist? Forda? Huh did you find him!?", each sentence Dash yelled louder and louder imitating that of Andross. Mashima stood up giving back that same energy.

"WATCH YOUR TONE APE...We have no report of Forda at all. Forda has been missing for a while and even though he put up a request signal at Aquas why was he there in the first place? Huh? You'd said he vanished back on Venom?", Dash was taken aback.

"Gee, maybe I don't know..oh right! How about assuming the fact that he was probably knocked out and transported there? That he woke up managed to get to a tower and send out that request? I don't know how he got on Aquas. He was managing operations from Venom. I just want him back!", Dash clenched his fist in anger. He tried to restrain himself from becoming like his grandfather but these short outbursts kept bringing back painful memories of him. He hated that and he hated his grandfather for it. General Pepper stepped in. He had enough of James and Peppy's bickering time from time back before the true Lylat Wars began, he certainty grew tired of it now.

"That's enough from both of you! Right now from what we've been seeing this big creature destroyed part of Arsenal. It had disappeared from sight leaving Arsenal still standing. Therefore that completes half of Star Fox's mission. Dash that other island is probably where the rest of your team is. Though we know that most of them were..." General Pepper let his sentence fade off, not speaking another word.

Dash closed his eyes rubbing his head. He can try to contain several sobs but eventually, a tear escaped.

"I know, the majority of them were killed. My satellites, just like yours picked those up clear as day. I know. After that, all of our satellites happen to so glitch at that specific time. You guys have anything to say that?" Dash turned to both parties. The blue particles still flying around projecting their bodies from the holograms. There was a bit of silence through each of them. Beltino spoke up.

"The terrorist used a high-end jamming signal to affect all of them. These people are no ordinary organization they know what they're doing. During that glitch, they used the opportunity to our best guess transport the rest of Dash's team to that island. If Star Fox is there, then there is a good chance that they are there as well." Beltino tried to reassure the ape but failed in that attempt."

Dash shook his head. He didn't want to accept any of this. He was only in his teens managing an entire planet, remaining on good terms with both Katina and Corneria and yet no matter how hard he tried, it was never enough for any planet. Dash wanted all planets to keep in constant communication with each other regarding things like this that involved multiple parties. The only thing that kept Dash and the Council to keep talking was the mining collaboration. His team on Katina's Arsenal. Both in sync and benefiting from one another. Dash's thought process was cut off when Oracle spoke.

"Dash Bowman, we are aware of the request that we discuss all matters with you regarding Arsenal that was our arrangement. However, Arsenal has a lot of valuable information that these terrorists have access too. We came to our own agreement, that no matter what Star Fox would either regain Arsenal or destroy it."

Dash put his face into his hands. He couldn't believe the Council's words. But he knew Star Fox would get it done. They've been through worse. Dash wasn't the best pilot though he can hold his own, Venom came first and he wanted to lead the planet into a new peaceful era. General Pepper coughed while Beltino fixed his glasses.

"Alright gentleman we're signing off, we'll continue this another time", Beltino pressed a button making both blue particles of The Council and Dash vanished. General Pepper paced a bit slowly but anxiously.

_Peppy stick to your mission. NO matter what the cost. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't think I would be writing this far. I appreciate all of you guys. Any of the chapters are open to constructive criticism. The adventure isn't over just yet! Just a few more chapters to go! Until the next Arc beings.


	17. XVII

The Harrier jet flew far and away from Aquas waters. There was dead silence within the harrier. The blue cat simply didn't bother speaking at all. He focused on driving this thing out and into space reporting to their base. Leon was squeezing himself against the small wall that the harrier offered. It wasn't even a wall since the two seats within the harrier took most of the room. Leon was sticking to it as best as he could. All he heard was Forda humming to himself. Leon squinted his eyes seeing the ears of the hyenas twitch constantly. Forda started to laugh a bit.

"Everything is going all too well! I never expected such a performance from Star Fox and Star Wolf! Too bad they won't be around for long.", Fords opened the strange metallic briefcase remaining steady in his lap. He clicked it open to reveal a screen inside with a set frequency and a couple of orange vials with the weird hue liquid. Forda couldn't stop praising himself.

"Those scientists really did wonders. It's kinda ironic how they were victims of their own creation. But all in all, there were prototypes after all. Such uses can be discarded easily.," Forda raised the vial up admiring the shiny liquid flawlessly swooshing around inside of the vial. It was almost like melted ice but with deadly consequences if injected or ingested. The blue remained silent, but he was listening to the conversation.

"Boss, what of Ebirah?", Leon asked. He can see Forda's muzzle appear a bit from the side. Forda was trying to turn to face him but the seat wouldn't allow it.

"We'll come back later. For now, let's report all of this to our leader. He'll be ecstatic.", Forda giggled in a creepy manner. In way Leon and Forda were similar but their intentions were different. One enjoyed bloodshed, but the other wanted complete chaos. Forda let his smile drop as he remembered one thing. It wasn't huge but if he were to make things go faster he'd have to make another plan. He was a bit worried, but not enough to ruin his cockiness. 

_That Council on Katina is proving to be more than a nuisance. _

______________________________

Star Fox dived down surrounding the base. Wolf looked up to see several Arwings surrounding them. Miyu still had her blaster at her friend not wanting to fire. She stopped trying, as she couldn't stand seeing some much agony on her friend. They went through hell together and helped each other a lot. But Forda played both of them from the start. Forda had everything set up, making Miyu realize her whole mission was futile now. The elephant looked around seeing how outnumbered he was. He didn't care, he focused his eyes back on Wolf. All he could see was read. There was no more Muza, there was only a monster wanting to get a new meal. Wolf held up his rifle but he saw Miyu slowly lower hers. Wolf can see how hurt she was. Forda wanted to undertake this mission as a means to give them battle data and getting rid of Miyu. It was all a game to Forda. Wolf never trusted a hyena and he certainly would never trust them now. Forda was a sociopath. He can see Muza getting ready to charge. Wolf fired all his bullets into Muza attempting to slow him down but it didn't work. Miyu covered her ears to try and block out the screams of pain and despair. They experimented on Muza like a plaything, there was nothing left of her friend.

Fox observed the carcasses scattered among the dirt. Fox looked in disgust. Torn white pieces of fabric scattered and flying. But there was no scientist. All he could see were these weird brown like creatures with crystals protruding from nearly their fingers and backs. Fox saw the elephant charging, he aimed it; charging his bomb as much as he could. Falco watched all of this going down. He sees Miyu in distress. It reminded him of him when he first met Katt. Falco dismissed the memory of her trying to suppress it as best as he could But she popped back up again and again. Fay, on the other hand, was looking in amusement. She never saw these types of enemies before. Fay sighed in disappointment. These things would give her a challenge but she enjoyed that. On the other hand, she was worried about Miyu. Miyu told her she was going on a top-secret mission and even share small details, but never in her life, she'd Miyu on the verge of breaking down. Peppy watched from a bit of distance. But something else caught his eye. He looked far off from the right of the island seeing smoke from Arsenal rising still. Thankfully the mining rig had nothing on it or in it to hurt Aquas waters. Or in any case this crustacean. He stood there eyes widened. A huge black mass was slowly rising making its way to them Peppy turned quickly to see Fox firing at the elephant.

"MUZA NO!, Miyu screamed out loud. All she could see was steam protruding from Muza's back. He was done fighting he was finished. He fell down planting on his knee, hitting the ground hard with his body. It made a lough thud sound. Panther looked to see Slippy's vehicle. He was shocked at such a craft. Such detailed metal and amazing color scheme. Panther always had a thing for design. In fact, he was the one who took the opportunity to decorate most of the Nomad's rooms and hallways. Nomad was crafted from the ground up and it ate a chunk of their wallets. Panther swirled around to see Miyu near her fallen friend. Wolf stood back, lowering his rifle. He eventually tossed it. It was nearly empty and the other clip was halfway done. No use of taking it with them. Miyu got on her knees seeing Muza's eye look up at her. He managed to get out on sentence.

"Miyu....b-b-be....good", and with that, the light in his eyes vanished and he took one last breath before trailing off. Miyu knew she couldn't blame Fox. He had no idea what she was doing. She left Star Fox in order to pursue a different career choice. She blamed herself not trying hard enough to protect her friend. He had a rough life and Miyu wanted to change him for the better. Her eyes turned from despair to angry, remembering the wicked smile Forda gave before flying off like a coward. Miyu clenched her fist punching the ground as hard as she could. She didn't know how Forda planned all of this. Wolf looked to see Fox's and Falco Arwing land. Fay, Peppy and Slippy remained in the air. Fox hopped around running to the group. Falco stepped out next seeing Panther who was now joining the group.

Fox gave off a mean stare at the lupine but seeing Wolf give no expression back. Emotionless. Fox crouched a bit placing a hand on Miyu's soldier.

"I'm sorry Miyu. I-I didn't know you....cared about him.", Fox didn't know what to say or calm Miyu down. He wasn't aware of the connection the two shared. Miyu rubbed her eyes a bit.

"No i-it's fine. He...He'd rather die than be in pain from this transformation." Miyu stood up wrapping her arms around Fox. Fox was taken aback. He slowly returned the hug before she broke it off. Wolf internally scoffed. He looked away waiting until the display of affection was over. Miyu gave off a weak smile.

"It's good to see you guys again. It's a while. She can see Fay's Arwing land, seeing the blue glass open up. A white dog jumped out running to greet Miyu a hug. Fay squeezed her friend tightly.

"Damn it, girl, you scared me. Don't do that again please." Fay firmly gripped her friends' shoulders feeling the strong muscles she had. Miyu was a tough girl and a strong one at that. Fay gave off a big smile. Fox turned to Wolf.

"You want to explain to me what you're doing here?", Fox flicked his jacket bit landing his hand on the blaster. Wolf crossed his arms. He glared the vulpine.

"I don't need to explain--", Fox interrupted Wolf not taking no for answer.

"You WILL answer my questions and frankly you're outnumbered and you don't have a choice! Now stop pretending to be all high and mighty and respond when I'm FUCKING talking to you!", Fox snarled getting angry from the lupine's actions. He didn't care about the lupines feelings at that point and wanted Wolf to stop with the lies. He can Wolf's frown a bit, the poker face he had broke into pieces. Fox can see sorrowful eyes behind that mask for a moment. Wolf sighed deeply. Miyu encouraged Wolf to talk. Panther was right alongside them.

"Alright. My mission was to get rid of a group harming Aquas waters. But however I can still that we were fooled.", Wolf rubbed the back of his head. Falco scoffed.

"You think? Not only we have to deal with bullshit, now we gotta deal with you!", Falco took out his blaster pointing it at Wolf. Miyu stepped in between the pair. Fox can hear his code beeping, he stepped away bit answering the call. It was Krystal again.

"Krystal you're safe! Thank god. Where are you?", Fox smiled. He always was told by Krystal to not worry about her, but he just couldn't help it.

"Don't say I told you so, but I'm on another island. I'm sending you coordinates to rendezvous here. My wing is fucked up badly", Krystal tapped her wrist to send Fox her location. She was met with a remark.

"I told you so", Fox chuckled a bit. He can hear Krystal scoff in a playful manner. His wrist beeped in conformation. Bu then her voice changed to a more serious one.

"Fox you need to get out of there NOW!" Krystal put a lot of emphasis on the 'now.' Fox perked up his ear. The earth underneath the beginning to rumble and shake. Fox can hear a bit of static on Krystal's end.

"Its---he---Get----OUT!", Fox struggled to get Krystal's sentence. Fox tried to form together what she was saying. But to no avail. The codec hung up on Krystal. Fox can feel the ground beneath him get soggy. Puddles slowly started to form around them in different parts of the dirt. Fay coped to try and stay still but he was holding onto Miyu. Wolf tapped his own battle wrist again contacting the Nomad.

"Nomad are you in the air?"

"Indeed. However, I am detecting a significant creature heading your way. Would you like me to send the Wolfens now?"

"Yes!"

Wolf quickly walked to Miyu who was still holding Fay. The trees were beginning to shake, with certain leaves starting to fall off. The base shook a bit with the huge tower giving way to the massive shaking of the island. It feels creating a huge thud. Shards of glass giving way to the immense pressure. Fay let go of Miyu running back to her Awring hopping in.

"Miyu can you handle a Wolfen?", Wolf asked. He wasn't taking no for an answer, whether or not she answered. Miyu looked down her friend's lifeless corpse. This wouldn't be the proper way to say goodbye. But the moment was soon over as she heard a violent and deafening shriek. There was no time to answer Wolf's question. She faced him and nodded without saying anything. The roaring engines of the Wolfen were soon heard. Panther jump high landing in his. Miyu can see the silver, white and purple color scheme over it. It was capturing representing Star Wolf flying with grace. Slippy flew up to get a better view of what was causing the island to gain so much water quickly. Slippy gasped as he couldn't believe what he was seeing A giant titan lobster slowly rising from the water. It's a bright red shell, with its immense crusher claws showing themselves. Slippy was panicking a bit.

"G-G-Guys what is that? We gotta get away from this thing!", Slippy pressured everyone to leave. Falco ran back to the stolen Harrier he hijacked, starting it up and flying off. Fox to Wolf as he called his Arwing to him. He gave Wolf a nasty look of shame and disgust with the lupines' actions. Wolf perked his ears down a bit. His Wolfen appeared. He did a mighty back-flip into it, flying high into the sky. Wolf can see a weird lobster making it's way toward the island. Wolf spoke into his comms with the other two Wolfens.

"This is Wolf everyone ready to go?", He asked.

"This feels weird but it'll do," Miyu said.

"Everything all good here", Panther finished it off.

The three Wolfens flew up trying to get a better look at this weird creature. Fox flew up seeing Ebirah dead sighted on taking everyone out as best as it could. Slippy twirled up in his new vehicle getting an analysis on the creature. Even with the new technology and powerful stats, the new vehicle couldn't recognize it. Fox can see Ebirah leaning a bit back, it's mouth twitching with the antennas fumbling around. Ebirah then launched a full-on water beam at one of the Arwings. It was heading for Fay. Fay screamed as she quickly dove down-firing back at Ebirah. Fox swerved upwards aiming at Ebirah's head. But the energy shots were doing any damage. Wolf and his team were stationed in the air seeing the magnificent beast in glory.

"So what is this thing?", Miyu asked. Miyu's voiced was filled with depression. She every right to be. The island that had her friend's dead corpse was slowly sinking into the unknown depths. Wolf picked up on this. 

"I don't know but we'll need to think of something.", Panther said. His eyes admiring the beast in battle. The hard textured armor this thing was wearing its bright shell beaming the off the remaining rays of the sun. The clouds started to block the sun covering up the beautiful rays of the water was feeling. Wolf can see little drops of water hit the glass of the cockpit. A storm was on it's way and it was going to get worse by each second. Wolf received a message from the Nomad.

"WARNING, WARNING IMMENSE HYDRO STORM ON IT'S WAY. SUGGEST IMMEDIATE EVACUATION" Wolf ignored it. His chest was warming up. Something he didn't feel for years. He clenched his jacket tightly looking at the crustacean swing it's mighty claws. He bared his teeth.

"Come on we're going in. We're gonna take this thing down!", Wolf charged in at Ebirah.

Falco fired a couple of missiles at Ebirah who gained its attention. Falco knew this was going to be tough. Ebirah reached forward with it's crusher claw trying to snap the Harrier in two. Falco easily swerved away flying underneath the arms of the monster. Falco flew up seeing how grey the clouds were. The number of drips hitting his shield. It was beginning to rain. Not a good time for mother nature to kick in on of her jokes. The wavers were facing immense pressure from Ebirah's movements. The water slowly overtaking the island, dragging all the dead bodies around like some sort of sick soup. Fox fired more shots at Ebirah's eyes hoping to blind the creature giving them time to escape. But not even the mighty big black eyes were susceptible to any kind of damage. Fox can feel the hits of the raindrops boost in sound and size. They were too high up and vision was becoming blurry as time passed. Ebirah charged up for another beam of powerful water aiming at Peppy this time. Peppy maneuvered away doing his best to avoid the beam of water. He flew around but Ebirah somehow predicated where he would be and fired the water at the hare destroying his shield.

"Dammit, this thing spits out water so hard the Arwing's shield is down in one hit!" Peppys heart started to pump blood a bit faster. He couldn't focus on the battle at hand with his heart acting up. He clenched it. He needed to ask for help.

"Guys my heart. I won't be in the air for long, guys help! Dammit, an old hare-like me", His breath started to shorten as he began to cough hard. Fox can hear it through the regular comms.

"Peppy there is an island a bit farther off. Krystal is there! Here are the coordinates we'll distract this thing with our firepower get out while you still can!", Fox ordered Peppy to retreat while they got the attention of Ebirah. The rainstorm was picking up and there was no more sun to provide light. Falco fired a major red energy blast at the shell of Ebirah irritating it. Ebirah turned around once again trying to hit Falco with its crusher claw. Slippy was looking for openings. Something for his new vehicle to hit this lobster with. Slippy finally found an opening. He need it to just wait for it shoot another powerful beam of water from its mouth. Slippy jetted toward the creature with the energy sword in hand. He took a hard swing at the head of it leaving a nice and heavy burn mark. But the shell wasn't dented in. He couldn't tell if the titan felt it or not. Ebirah roared in acrimony, raising both crusher claws trying to take out Slippy. Slippy had the advantage in speed backing away quickly. He took out a big plasma rifle from one of the arms of his vehicle. It was attached to the arm so it didn't need both hands to use it. He fired shot after shot hitting the beast with succession. Ebirah screamed as loud as it could. It started to inflate it's chest, backing up a bit.

"Perfect. Go on fire another shot!", Slippy readied himself. Fox was flying back around Slippy wondering what was the frog doing. He received a codec beep from Slippy. He answered it.

"You made it out? What the situation?", Fox wanted to make sure Peppy wasn't having an attack in the middle of battle.

"Y-Yeah. I'm with Krystal. Fox you have to get out of there. The waters in that area are getting more agitated. A storm is on it's way. You have to get out! It's a level 5!" Peppy wanted Fox out of there.

"Don't worry about us Peppy we'll catch up with you shortly! We've handled storms like these before!", Fox ended his codec call with Peppy. The raindrops were now trailing along with the glass of the cockpit. Ebirah fired a large beam of water. Slippy used the Zero shift. A quick dashing mechanism. He pressed a couple of buttons making his mech raise it's arm creating large like a ball of blue energy. The mech swung it like a baseball.

"NOVA BLAST!", He called out. The Nova blast ignored the water and went straight into Ebirahs mouth exploding. Ebirah went back a bit in pain. A bit of smoke erupted from the mouth of the crustacean. Ebirah dived back down into the water. While the water was still ongoing it hit Fox's shield getting rid of it. Fox jolted back a bit.

"Dammit my shield is gone! How long till recharge Slippy?", Fox struggled to stabilize his Arwing but it kept getting pushed back by the beam of water. Slippy flew towards Fox to grasp his Arwing. Fox can see the hand grab his wing further aiding him in keeping his Awring in place. Slippy backed away. Fox took a much closer look at this mech. It wasn't huge but stood very high and mighty.

"Recharge won't happen for a couple of minutes. We'll need to get to where Peppy and Krystal are! Everyone stay on your toes, this thing could be up here again at any moment!", Slippy looked around to see Fay and the Wolfens around. Falco was a bit of distance away but he was alright. The rain was starting to become intense and Falco's Harrier was beginning to fill up with water due to the immense hold he left.

"Damn it, my jet is taking to much water. Sooner or later this thing will have to much water. Guys come on let's take the chance and book it out of here!" Falco recommended to hightail it out of here. Fox can hear his radar beeping immensely. He looked around trying to see which direction it was coming from but there was the sight of the creature. His detector beeped more and more until he realized there nothing coming at him...

But directly underneath him


	18. XVIII

The waves of Aquas roared in power, waves reaching high as towers on Corneria. The water darkens with the shades from the clouds causing it to be mysterious and alluring. The raindrops now heavier than ever, caused Star Fox and Star Wolf to try and regain their focus. But the waves couldn't give away Ebirah, the waters were too dark making it impossible to see Ebirah's pure and bright red shell. The sounds of thunder presenting itself in an intimidating manner, followed by its brother lightning. The bright white beams of electricity hitting the waters, causing temporary craters in the waves before the water got rid of them due to the everlasting motion. Falco was taking on too much water in his harrier, his pants soaked to a much darker red. His boots an inch in water. The harrier had only a couple more minutes before the water could fry everything there, making Falco an unwanted and early thanksgiving meal. His feathers trailing off drips of water as he desperately avoided a lighting strike. But still he kept on flying; there was no storm that was going to take him out. His jacket soaked sticking to his back like a sticker.

"Guys! We gotta go now! This thing, I assume---is Ebirah--must be retreating. We got to get to where Peppy and Krystal are!". Falco struggled to talk in his codec but the constant sound of rain hitting, followed by the storms lullaby of thunder made it difficult. Slippy turned to face Falco giving the head of his mech a nod.

But it was too late. Ebirah was too quick. Fay can see a fast claw spreading itself trying to put Fox in the middle. Fay saw in horror as it sprang up like a slingshot. It was out of a horror movie. Wolf's eye widened in fear thinking the vulpine would be instantly crushed. Panther and Miyu were right alongside him. Fay shouted as best as she could.

"FOX LOOK OUT! THE CLAW IS COMING!", Fay screamed into her codec. Fox heard her, as he tried to swerve away, all he can hear was a large snap. He was falling fast getting a glimpse of his wing flying away, it is taken by the ferocious winds that suddenly appeared. Wolf growled seeing the bright crustacean rise up once more shooting a quick water beam at Slippy. Slippy put up a heavy shield from the mech's arms. He was taken back a bit by the immense pressure of the water. Slippy got angry and scared. A combination of both emotions flooding him quickly. He can see his leader falling down, every second getting closer to the water. Slippy yelled.

"IF YOU'RE GONNA HURT, MY FRIENDS, YOU'RE IN FOR A BAD TIME!", Slippy readied his beam sword dashing to Ebirah firing multiple rifles blast his Ebirah. Ebirah only retaliated by screaming the best it could. Fox can see the surface of water welcome him, with a heavy impact. The alarms going off in his Awring telling him, that water has breached the ship. Wolf thrust his Wolfen forward flying to the location where Fox hit the water. It was near Ebirah so it wasn't going to be easy. The large beast had a tail, at any moment that tail could devastate the vulpine further, possibly killing him in the process. He couldn't allow that to happen.

"Panther! Miyu! I need you both to help Slippy draw Ebirah's attention away from Fox! NOW GO!", Wolf ordered the two to immediate action.

"Right!", Miyu and Panther replied in unison. With that Miyu and Panther flew in concentrating all firepower at Ebirah. Ebirah stopped to turned to see the Wolfen's heading towards it. Ebirah lunged its crusher claw at one of them, but both separated in two different directions. Wolf up as high as he could get the Wolfen to unimaginable heights. He waited a moment for gravity to pulled the Wolfen down as he dived in like an Olympic swimmer the Wolfen picking up more velocity as he went.

_Can't let you die on me Star Fox _

Fox can feel the cold and unforgiving water hit his torso sending chills up the vulpines spine. He tried to unbuckle his harness as best he could but it was stuck. The Arwing's alarms slowly malfunctioning due to the excessive water it was taking. His pants becoming instantly drenched, leaving a dark green to replace the bright green. Soon the clouds were no longer clear as the water engulfed both him and the Awring sinking them quickly. The water now reaching his waist, He finally broke the harness restraining him, but the dark grey light from the clouds slowly faded more and more with each second. It didn't help that it was sinking nearby Ebirah. The Awring was being pulled back and forth like a game of tug-of war. The muffled screams from Ebirah due to the water burned an everlasting sound into Fox's memory. The saltwater rose to his chest. He took out his blaster trying to shoot his way out of the cockpit but the reinforced glass took a nice good close up shots from the vulpines weapon. Fox hit the glass with the butt of his blaster, slowly panicking as he didn't want to die on this liquefied planet. His body's temperature dropping fast, and the Awring now dropping faster and faster. A small explosion happened from behind him.

A quick, small and sharp piece of metal, came from behind Fox striking him in the lower thigh. He screamed in pain, falling into the water, the salt in the water hitting his eyes as he forced them close, screaming in a silenced way from the immense pain of the blow. Fox swam up reaching for a breath of air. If he didn't work fast that would be his last. The water hitting his neck, affecting the heat in Fox making him shiver. Fox saw his floating handkerchief wrapped around his neck, slowly untie itself. The blood calmly surrounded Fox's body. His vision was now under the water, as he forced his eyes open hitting the glass one more time. Inch by inch the glass gave way, but would it be enough for Fox to escape. It looked so far away, the pressure Aquas's water had been brutal and even the mightiest submarines can only go so deep. Fox's lungs begged for air, not knowing the situation he was in. All he thought about was air. The water changed a bit. They weren't violent as before, but it gave way if Fox can just get out of a now confined prison he didn't expect that would come so early.

Wolf charged down pressing a button commanding the Wolfen to go on autopilot before, he flew open the cockpit glass charging a fist before breaking the surface of the water. The Wolfen retreated upwards flying to god knows where. Miyu and Panther worked together to aid Slippy in making Ebirah make its way to them. Slippy fired more shots striking them in the beast's eyes. Ebirah held up one of its claw defending itself from the strong blast of energy. Falco flew around seeing the area where Fox landed. He couldn't see his best friend anywhere. He put his finger to his codec.

"Fox? FOX.....Can you hear me? FOX", Falco yelled trying to hear anything from Fox. All he heard was static. The storm wasn't making this easy. His harrier was starting to lose altitude but he didn't care. Slippy flew down and with a mighty strike slashed Ebirah's face from its mouth to its head. Ebirah screamed in agony. Slippy backed away noticing Ebirah getting ready to charge another beam of water. He made the mech raise one of it's arms. Falco saw the strange behavior. Ebirah fired the beam of water. Slippy pressed a button summoning a hexagonal shape of energy. It was a reflector. The water hit the reflector instantly sending the water back at Ebirah faster than it even fired it. The mech backed away a bit, not expecting that kind of force.

Wolf hit the surface water as hard has could, giving him enough power to dive down with ease. The freezing temperatures hitting his fur, causing immense confusion for his body's temperature. The Wolf squinted as best as he could seeing the A-shaped vehicle from a distance. He swam down as hard as he could. Wolf never expected to be swimming so much in his lifespan. The thrill of fighting within his Wolfen is what made him feel alive. But the waters of Aquas? It did the complete opposite. It made him dead on the inside. Wolf kicked his feet in a rhythm seeing a familiar vulpine within the cockpit. Wolf knew the blaster was pointless it would shock them both if he did it. He saw some cracks within the glass of the Arwing. He assumed Fox attempting to punch his way out. 

From Fox's view. He saw a dark figure making his way to him. He pressed his muzzle against the glass noticing the familiar grey color. He mouthed _oh shit_ in the water. His lungs were at their limit. He covered his mouth to making nothing would seep in. But the oxygen bubbles he saw didn't reassure him at any point. Those were his bubbles. Fox pressed his hand against the glass seeing the lupine finally reach him. For some reason, Wolf did the same. Fox knew at the moment everything was going to be alright. He gave off a weak smile as Wolf nodded to him that he was going to punch the glass off. Wolf gave a strong punch making more cracks in the glass. He repeated the action again and again but this was tough. Wolf saw the vulpine slowly close his eyes. Fox was at his limit. Wolf shook his head in denial as he frantically punched the glass like he did last time. 

Fox couldn't deny his lungs air any longer. But they were in for some water. A polar opposite to their needs. Fox took a gulp of water as a replacement for air.

_*gulp*_

Wolf saw the vulpine fall back. Wolf was failing at rescuing the fella but he didn't want to quit yet. No. This was something else he was doing. He wasn't doing this just to save Fox. After all he could have let him suffer but no. This was his rival. A person who was able to make Wolf feel like himself again whenever they fought.

_*gulp* _

Fox's vision was beginning to blackout. His brain was not accepting the fact that he was drowning forcing every system in his body to shut down. Wolf screamed as loud as he could now forcing his between the cracked glass. He remembered the training he had with his father. All those times he fought to eat and even live. But now...it was to save someone. He can hear his fathers voice commanding him to hit harder and harder. Wolf was almost there.

*_gulp* _

_WOLF HIT HARDER. HIT ME LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT._ Wolf punched the glass one more time. He saw the vulpines body drift in different directions. Wolf ripped apart the glass like it was paper cutting his hands in the process. The hole he made was started to grow in size. 

_WOLF YOU WANT TO EAT DON'T YOU? THEN FUCKING HIT ME _

Wolf tore the glass apart, grabbing Fox by the shirt hoisting him up and out of the sinking Arwing. Wolf's lungs were now begging for air. Wolf wrapped once arm around the vulpines chest while using the other swim to the surface. Wolf can feel Fox's lifeless body just there with him. He couldn't feel a heartbeat. Wolf needed to perform CPR on him but where? There wasn't an island to swim to for miles.

The training his father gave him, wasn't so that he could live to eat another day.

It was to save the ones he admired the most.

___________________________________

_Fox looked around seeing a weird dawn on the horizon of where he was. He was standing on water not in it. Fox looked around to see a familiar person similar to his exact fur color. Fox walked a bit to them, but he quickly grew more emotional as he realized who it was. Fox started to run to him, faster than he ever did. He stopped seeing the person's head turn. Fox felt his chest burn in happiness. The figure turned around. Fox recognized those shades._

_It was James. His father. But how? How was Fox standing here in front of him? James spoke._

_"My baby boy you've grown so much!", James said. Fox felt tears run down his cheeks as he wrapped himself around his father feeling the embrace once again._

_"I've missed you so much, dad!", Fox clenched tighter. James patted his son on the back rubbing it as well. Fox let go seeing his father's face again._

_"But how? How are you here? What am I doing here?", Fox looked around seeing the orange sky. James chuckled, fixing his glasses._

_"Well...you're sort of dead at the moment. But I can feel you regaining your vitals back." James shrugged his shoulders. Fox buried a brow into his forehead._

_"What? I'm dead?", Fox put his hand up to his chest. He can feel someone else's on them. The hands were going up and down fast like a roller coaster. His muzzle grew warm every now and then, lips feeling contact but no one was there. James pressed his hand up Fox's chest pushing his back gently. _

_"Never give up my son", James saw Fox fall back. Fox tried to regain his balance but the water beneath him gave up wrapping him up once more. The darkness he saw._

_Was any of this real...or just a dream?_

______________________________________

Wolf did chest compressions harder and harder trying to spit the water out of the vulpines lungs. Wolf managed to get into his Wolfen he called back, laying the vulpine against him, as he flew towards the islands that Slippy led him and his team to. Wolf carried Fox quickly putting him on the sand. Krystal was near him putting her hand over Fox's head trying to feel thoughts anything come back. Krystal had her eyes close sensing a thought come back. It was.....Fox in the bar that they partied in...but....but....Krystal jolted as a fire of emotions pummeled her. Fox was coming back regaining his life once more. Wolf did more chest compressions, put his muzzle to the vulpines blowing air into his rivals lungs. A mouth-to-mouth procedure. Fox opened his eyes but his vision was blurry feeling a warm set of lips blowing hot air into him. He coughed up water forcing the figure to withdraw. Fox took a large gasp of air relieving everyone around him. He felt his pants heavy with sand particles on them. His fingers trailing through the wet sand. Fox lit up, he was on sand. but the saltwater burned his throat becoming agitated at the amount of air his uvula was making contact with. He grabbed his throat in response feeling the immense burn of the salt. His uvula was swollen. He needed water. Pure water. He raised his waist up seeing Wolf but a completely new side of his face he never saw.

Falco rushed to Fox getting down on one knee making sure his leader was alright. Slippy was next to him to. But Peppy yelled from a distance.

"Everyone give him some space! He's recovering let him process this!", Peppy ordered everyone to back off. Krystal moved backward a bit. But Wolf stayed right where he was. Fox coughed a few more times gagging at the immense water he had in his lungs. Fox should have died, but he didn't. Fox can see the water bottle in his face. It was from Slippy his best friend. Fox didn't know where he got a water bottle but he gladly accepted it. Fox opened the bottle chugging down at the pure and rich cool water to satisfy the fire rummaging through his whole entire esophagus. Fox let a few drops fall. Fox related to Falco doing the same thing when he had his hangover. Only on a more extreme case with the vulpine. Fox rubbed his eyes trying to get some of the sand out of his fur before it hit his eyes. Wolf took out his rag rubbing out gunk from the vulpines eyes. Fox was in no position to deny help. 

_I hope it's not the cumrag. _Fox thought to himself.

He can finally see clearly again. He observed his surroundings. There was no sight of Ebirah. Fox looked to the back of him to see three Wolfens parked. Fox looked forward seeing Peppys, Fay's and Slippy's Awrings. Only now it was looking like the classic Awring. Not the one Slippy was in before. Though it did look much bigger than the other ones. As if it was a mom and her ducklings. He saw Krystal's damaged Awring nearby. Fox finished the bottle of water, folding his knees. Wolf took a breath of relief.

"Don't fucking die again Fox."


	19. XIX

Fox took a moment to regain his posture but he couldn't. An immense sharp pain was presenting itself in his lower thigh. He remembered there being a sharp piece of metal through his leg but it wasn't there anymore. He now saw his thigh wrapped in gauze. There was some tight restriction on his leg. He tried to get up but he couldn't. He was stuck there for a while. Fox felt the nice smooth sand on his fingers, sticking to some of his furs. Fox looked up seeing the clouds grey but with no rain, only a drizzle. Fox can see the massive storm from far away fading from eyesight. Fox was greeted with a huge hug from Krystal. He was a bit surprised but was he expecting this? Yes. Krystal wrapped her arms around Fox's shoulders squeezing tightly as she could. She almost lost her friend, the person who came to her and trusted her. Wolf looked down at Fox's thigh. There was no blood yet, or did it stop bleeding? It was a bad wound and both teams didn't have the advanced medical technology from either ship provided at their disposal.

"Good to see you to Krystal. I can't breathe though", Fox said as he wheezed out the last few couples of words. Krystal quickly let go. But she knew her mind wasn't as ease. She went to deep into his thoughts again. Though on her own accord. She wanted to feel his thoughts rise again, to make sure he didn't pass into the afterlife. She knew it wasn't the right time. Fox gave her a puzzled look. He rubbed her shoulder to give her comfort.

"Relax, Krystal I'm alright. No need to worry." Fox sat there feeling some sand getting into his pants. Beaches were nice, relaxing and fun, but when sand gets into your clothing; it's not the most pleasant experience. Slippy took the empty bottle from Fox placing the bottle back in his Arwing. Peppy was sitting on a fallen tree that collapsed during the storm. Fay sat next to him, helping him regulate his breathing exercises. Fox turned to Peppy.

"Peppy...You're heart acting up again?', Fox asked in concern. He couldn't move yet but soon he will. Peppy coughed while nodding to his question. He began to speak once he was done.

  
"Y-yeah. This old hare isn't done yet. The worse is over. We need to recollect ourselves before planning our next move. I think we deserve to rest for now. Arsenal is still intact though the other half is gone, we succeeded in that regard. Now, all we need do to is find Dash's team. We're not sure how many are left though. Krystal told me that you didn't find anyone on Arsenal other than the terrorist?", Peppy released the tight clutch he had on his chest. He took a deep breath to inhale then slowly exhaled. Krystal got up from sitting on the sand.

"Yes. Fox and I didn't find anyone aboard Arsenal in terms of Dash's team. But Fox did travel to a nearby island not too far. I didn't see Ebirah but I can feel his mind focused on where Fox was. Fox are you well enough to explain what happened?", Fox looked up at Krystal acknowledging her question. He stretched his arms.

"Yeah. I went to that island with the base. Now that's underwater, I saw Star Wolf there. Falco was there with me. Before Ebirah arrived, Fay, Slippy and Peppy were there just before Ebirah attacked us. I saw multiple bodies. But there were some weird creatures and I didn't know what they were. Matter of fact, Wolf you still need to give me answers. I want them now, chop-chop", Fox turned to Wolf, wincing in pain from the movement. Wolf can feel all eyes were on him. Panther walked beside him to back him up. Wolf forcefully exhaled through his knows.

"Alright, Alright, no need to look at me like I fucking killed someone. I was on a mission, to get rid of a team that was supposedly harming Aquas water. The man goes by the name of Forda. He said he was being represented by Katina but according to Miyu who was undercover for some reason said he wasn't. And those creatures...were the scientist but they were mutated. The majority of Dash's team was killed in the takeover of Arsenal. That's what one of the scientists told me, there were no miners. They're gone." Wolf shrugged his shoulders. He continued speaking. "Nothing I could do. Forda had some weird briefcase in his hand, and Leon was there protecting him. Then some weird black jet appeared taking them away."

Fox jaw opened a bit. Fox couldn't believe it. Was Wolf going to become a criminal again? Fox clenched his fist in frustration. This was the first time they failed. They never failed a single mission before. Fox knew he didn't have the reason to be angry, or should he? How was Dash going to react knowing his team is gone? Could Dash go back to and try to finish what his grandfather started? NO, he was too pure for that. Then again, Andross's blood ran through the young ape's veins. As Dash grew older he even started to resemble him.

"You fucking idiot!", Fox raised his voice at the lupine. "Wolf I can't believe--" Fox rubbed the temples on his forehead. Fox spoke one more.

"You took a mission without realizing the consequences? Why..WHY would you take the mission? Do you know if this will pull you on the OTHER side of the law once more?", Fox grabbed the lupines shirt pulling Wolf towards him. Their muzzles between each other. Wolf placed his hand on the sand to avoid him from falling.

"We needed the money pup--", Wolf got cut off again.

"DONT.FUCKING.CALL.ME.PUP!", Fox growled yelling at Wolf directly in his face. Krystal stepped in being the mediator.

"Fox calm down. Wolf had his reasons for accepting the mission. Wolf said he needed the money, that he was financially struggling. We can't save the scientist but we can avenge them by stopping as to whoever this organization is." Krystal's voice alleviated Fox. He threw the lupine back, causing Wolf to stumble a bit back. Wolf had a neutral expression all the way not trying to show any emotion. But Fox knew he hurt the lupine. Fox didn't care, that was no excuse for accepting a mission like that. Wolf had no information and from the start, he shouldn't have accepted it. Falco checked on Fox's leg putting a bit of pressure on it.

"You think you can get up?", Falco asked. Fox shook his head. The bird got up to lean back on his harrier. Panther cleared his throat. He rubbed his fur on his head getting some of the water. The flicks of water flying off.

"Sorry to interrupt but can you guys mind telling us what the hell was that lobster thing? Because instead of us turning that thing into Lobster Bisque, it was going to turn us into a distasteful soup instead." Panther waited for anyone's response. Krystal spoke once more.

"That thing was Ebirah. A giant lobster.", Falco voiced right after.

"And according to Leon, he is apparently a 'god'," using his fingers to quote the god part. Falco was leaning against his harrier. Due to water damage, it was unable to function properly again. His pants were much dryer now. He had his jacket on the wing of the harrier so it could dry quicker. All in all, he was in a tank top. Falco took Fox's jacket off when Wolf brought him onto the shore, letting Fox's jacket dry right next to him. Panther continued to ask questions.

"Okay so from what I heard about these terrorists upon the mining rig. Does anybody have an idea as to WHY they want Ebirah? Don't ask me why the scientist transformed into those things the vulpine saw, because frankly Wolf and I have no idea. We can only assume they were experimented on.", Panther put his hands into his pockets. Everyone stood silent. No one could answer the feline's question. Panther called out to Miyu. "Miyu you want to explain what you were doing alongside Forda?"

Miyu was resting upon one of the Wolfen's wings. For the first time of flying a Wolfen, Miyu was really good. Wolf was impressed at the number of moves Miyu pulled when she was in the Wolfen. Miyu jumped down to the ground, fixing her pants. She cleared her throat and began to speak.

"Looks like it's my turn to speak huh? Alright, I'll start from the beginning. I am working under the orders of the CCI. Cornerian Central Intelligence. We get a lot of things done in a day. We work fast. We're different from CFI, LCI, and LFI. We believed on Venom was up to something. We sent insiders just like Corneria to see if Dash was going to start another war within the galaxy but Dash wasn't the problem. It was someone else. After a lot of digging, we came across Forda. That's the strange part" Miyu rubbed her ear. Fay tilted her head.

"Go on Miyu.", Fay wanted Miyu to continue speaking to which she did.

"When I was with Star Wolf, I was updated on how Forda went missing on Venom. Venom told us he was kidnapped. But according to what I've been gathering it doesn't seem like the case. To further explain it's weird why Forda decided to vanish. But we had a lead. He was looking for a recruiter during that timespan. I was picked for the job. I had my voice changer, and my outfit ready. When I met Forda he instantly picked me. I thought I was in and have been reporting back to CCI since then."

Falco barged in the conversation.

"And at some point you got sloppy?", he asked. Miyu confirmed his question.

"It would appear so. He said he had no use for me anymore and that I gave him away to look into Cornerians' defenses. He also used Star Wolf as some sort of combat data for fighting off these weird huge blue spiders.", Miyu feels emotional in her chest. "And he mutated my best friend into a beast. To which Fox put him out of his misery", Miyu turned away to look at the now calm waves of the shore. Wolf clenched his fist.

"This damn, Hyena played EVERYONE from the start. He planned this from the beginning but we don't know why." Wolf sighed in defeat. Once again he was used. Just like when his team was used when the original Lylat Wars were happening. Wolf stood up tapping his battle wrist trying to summon the Nomad to their location. He saw the small screen glitch and freak out. Wolf forgot his wrist wasn't waterproof. He needed to wait to upgrade it but with only $500,000 how much would the small upgrade take out of? Slippy noticed the frustration. He walked up to Wolf.

"What's wrong? Something with your watch.?", Wolf turned to give Slippy the eye. Slippy gulped in fear standing back a bit. Wolf gave up the mask and just bluntly spoke.

"Thing right here similar to yours, I can summon our ship the Nomad. However it's not waterproof, so it freaked out and died. I don't know where our ship is, but I was able to get a confirmation from it before it died. It's up in the air somewhere we don't know where.",

Fox frowned. "And with the Great Fox extremely high up in the sky, we can't exactly call it either. It might attract Ebirah. The Great Fox is way bigger than last time, so Ebirah could mistake it for another creature. We can't fly up as well. Falco and I lost our Arwings, my blaster is obsolete, Peppy's heart is fucked up we're going to be here for a while", Fox groaned in annoyance. So much was taken away from them in a matter of hours. He refused to be defeated so easily. Fox quickly glanced at Krystal's white gauze. He didn't see it before.

"Krystal, what happened to your waist?", Fox tried to move his leg was still unable to cooperate. Krystal looked down her bandage. She smiled to try to calm the vulpine.

"I was fighting Leon, he was able to slash me pretty well. Slippy has a med-kit installed in his Arwing but it's not a match for actual medical treatment. I feel better now and I think it stopped bleeding. It hurts to turn a bit, but I'm alive. Don't worry I managed to get him back", Krystal giggled. What a strong woman. Krystal may look fragile but she was a warrior. A mighty one. One can even mistake her for an assassin. Falco threw up his hands.

"Yeah! And that green fuck sliced up my blaster! I have nothing to shoot with!",Falco turned around to punch a hole in the harrier. He did it so hard, that some water leaked out of it creating a dark stain on the sand. Fox started to dig into his ear getting rid of some sand clunks.

"We can't rely on our blasters all the time. This is getting serious." Fox readjusted his bottom. His bottom was becoming numb. Slippy pulled out a tablet from his jacket bringing up readings on a holographic screen above. It was a mini version. Slippy usually takes these now on the go to record and analyze battle situations. It was how he created the new mechanized Arwing in the first place. Slippy shook his head in disappointment.

"Since Falco's Arwing is destroyed, He won't have a replacement for a while. Fox's is gone so he's in the same situation as Falco. The Wolfen's are in stable condition so that's good. Falco's harrier he stole is filled with water, so it'll take time to actually repair it. There are two seats in it, which is normal. On the other hand, Fay's Awring is alright. It does have some hits. Though it is mine she did a good job of taking care of it. Peppy's is alright as well. There's only one seat in each Wolfen and Arwing for now, including mine. We can make this work. The only problem is the harrier. It's messed up." Slippy put away the mini-tablet. He brushed his hands after that. Fay stood up.

"Peppy is in no condition to fly, Fox's leg is still healing, Krystal got sliced up, we'll need to rest.", Fay suggested. Slippy pointed at Fay and nodded.

"That's what we're going to do. We'll set up camp here for the night before heading back. I'll need to focus a lot of that time repairing the harrier to at least a stable condition." Fox chuckled at Slippy's words. Slippy was always the scared type but now he was in a way becoming a man. After all, Slippy was leaving the team to be with Amanda. I think that made him more responsible in a sense.

"Who you made you the leader?", Fox played teased Slippy. "And what is this beauty that you cooked up?", He pointed at Slippy's new larger Arwing. Slippy made an "Ah!" formation with his mouth. Slippy walked in front of his vehicle.

"This? Well, I present to you the Arwing OF. Other wise known as an Arwing Orbital Frame. That's still a prototype name but this baby right here is mine! For now. After I leave the team, Ill find a new owner to pass it down to. " Slippy raised his arm to present his new, slimmer battle wrist. He tapped the screen once and the Arwing quickly transformed back into its form that Fox saw earlier. The wing's moving to the back, the cockpit slowly rising to the chest, with a head forming up on top. It's pointy legs sharp as javelins appearing once more. Its hands were bulkier up close and the torso had a blue and metal pattern to it. It's weird shaped head having one light for an eye. Slippy continued to explain.

"My Orbital Frame is called Baal. I have been custom developing each of your own Arwings to fit your style. Each OF will have a different and unique design. My design here is a more thick build. Equipped with several large firearms from inside of it, and a nice beam energy sword. Ebirah didn't make me use all of its functions yet." Slippy gave off a huge smile proud of his invention. Falco quirked up a bit, clapping his hands.

"Slippy you've done it this time. I can't wait to see what mine looks like!:, Falco was hyped already. Something design to fit his style of battle. Finally an Arwing capable of handling him and his flight abilities. Wolf was a bit intimidated at first glance, he gave off a smirk.

"Well looks like the toad has done. I'll be sure never cross paths with that thing haha.", Wolf puffed out his chest. Slippy laughed a bit.

"You know Wolf, you'd lost instantly if you fought me in this!", Wolf gave a deadly stare at the toad. Slippy whimpered a bit. He had to get used to this again. He didn't see Wolf in years. Fox breathed the refreshing air once more, not taking it for granted.

They were going to be stuck here for probably a day or two.

"Alright everyone let's set up camp, while we still have daylight.", Fox said

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm happy writing this but Idk if you guys are enjoying it too. Please give me feedback


	20. XX

The sun began to descend beyond the horizon line, giving off the beautiful orange view from afar. The clouds were breaking up saying goodbye to the waters of Aquas until they appear again. The waters giving a rhythm back and forth of the shore. Aquas was known for its amazing sunset. The bright orange and red combined to ease your troubles. However, with a giant creature swimming around, that wouldn't be the case. There was a fireplace centered around the group, giving small embers that would disappear from sight. It wasn't easy to find dry sticks for a while since the storm passes through here wetting everything along it's path. However, both teams found a way to give a medium-size fire to last them through the night. Fox wasn't having the most easy time of his life. His leg throbbing with pain, he can feel the pulses of his veins run along the bottom of his leg. He didn't want to ask Slippy for more painkillers because they had only a few amounts left. Fox thought of the painkiller drink he had at the bar. He chuckled to himself. The face he needed painkillers so much amused him, but at the same time worried him. Fox looked down his leg looking a bit for swollen than usual. He hoped they would only stay for a day but at this rate, it wasn't looking like it. Slippy was spending most of his time working on Falco's harrier; at the same time being amused at the type of technology this thing had. Slippy sometimes would get distracted only to be told by Fox to get back on track. Fox was now sitting against one of the fallen trees. He needed help to get there with Krystal and Wolf; Fox had to hop one leg to get there. He was sitting alongside Peppy talking to him about something, while Fay was standing in front of Miyu near one of the Wolfens. Wolf was chilling next to Panther. He yawned a bit. Panther was digging in his pocket for something. Wolf noticed and glance at what he pulled out. Panther pulled out a couple of Zoness Cigars. Wolf chuckled for the feline to do such a thing. 

"Thought you didn't smoke. Unlike I do", Wolf said to Panther. Panther handed Wolf a cigar to which the lupine gladly accepted. Panther also pulled out a lighter.

"I don't but on an occasion like this, I'd rather not be stressed out at the moment. You haven't smoked in a while either you know? Take a bit to the wind.", Panther lit Wolf's cigar seeing the end of it start to burn to drop some embers. A nice honey flavor of smoke enters Wolf's lung easing his muscles as he blew out a donut shape hole of smoke. Wolf took a deep breath.

"A bit out of character for you no?", Wolf turned to Panther. He saw the yellow eyes of the feline pierce deep into his soul. Panther always manages to get things his way with those eyes of his male or female. Wolf was immune to such tricks.

"It is...but then again...", Wolf perked up his ears. He turned around seeing Krystal warming her hands by the campfire. She was focused on staying warm. He turned back to face Panther once more.

"It's her?' Wolf flicked his in Krystal directions, noticing Panther put a finger to his mouth telling him to hush. He lowered his voice.

"I thought my feelings for her would disappear you know? It was working at first, however, the moment I saw her everything came running back again. Now we're stuck here with her and I can't find a way to spark a conversation.", Panther took a whiff of his cigar. Zoness cigars were banned from Corneria and Katina, but Aquas was not collared by any civilization, untamed and not touched. Aquas was free of anything so he thought it would be perfect to smoke them here. Wolf smoked his cigar once more, tapping lightly to get some extra embers off from the butt of the cigar. It burned the sand between Wolf's legs. The water was hitting the tip of Wolf's boots. Feeling the hard metal then retreating away. 

"Panther you were fluent during the Aparoid invasion? Remember you swore to protect her? Then they dipped literally thinking we were dead. Ahh, good times." Wolf smiled off into the distance. Panther giggled weakly acknowledging the truth of what Wolf said.

"Yeah, I did, hehe. Goddamit I'm flustered. I'm not in it for sex. I genuinely want to be with her. I don't know how she'll feel.", Panther coughed a bit from inhaling too much smoke. He made a fuss a little before regaining his breath. Wolf smirked. Wolf held the cigar in his mouth for a bit tasting the bitter honey on his taste buds.

"You never know unless you ask.", Wofl thought of his own advice he gave to Panther. Just then Falco shouted out Wolf's name. Panther and Wolf turned to see Falco not to far away from them. Falco looked down to see them smoking some cigars. Panther held up a carton.

"Want one?", Panther offered.

"No", Falco denied the felines offer. Panther shrugged his shoulders. Wolf got up to meet Falco's eye level. Wolf gave the bird a stare but the bird wasn't phased.

"What the fuck do you want?', Wolf asked.

"I want to fucking talk thats what. Behind one of the Arwings.", Falco started walking with Wolf trailing behind him. They reached Slippy's large Arwing. Falco leaned against the Arwing and began to speak. Wolf dug his hand into his pockets waiting for the bird to be finished so he can continue to smoke in peace. Falco stretched his arms.

"That was uncharacteristically of you to do what you did", Falco crossed his arms raising an eyebrow. Wolf rolled his only eye. He didn't feel like being interrogated it was almost night time and Wolf wanted to get some rest. He never really felt easy knowing he expected such anger from the vulpine. At the same time, it only made his attraction to the vulpine stronger. He liked his men strong and intimidating like just like Wolf himself. 

"Okay and?", Wolf responded with sarcasm.

"Okay and I'm wondering why you went through such an ordeal to save Fox. Normally you'd hate hit guts why start the random new leaf now?", Falco was trying to get a reading of Wolf.

"You would just let Fox die?", Wolf shot back.

"I was seconds away from doing what you did. You were so focused on him. Why is that?", Falco put his head down giving Wolf a dangerous stare. Wolf wasn't going to be bullied by some bird. He snarled, growling at the bird's bold actions.

"If you think I'm planning something--"

"I think you are, so---"

"Shut up and let me finish. If you think I'm planning something you're dead wrong. I should kill you where you stand for accusing me of such things", Wolf got a bit closer to Falco. Falco stepped up. Both heads fuming at such a quick glare. Falco sighed.

"You think can kill me?"

"I can"

"Look Wolf--I'm watching you. I'm giving you a warning. Stay away from Fox and stay away from us.", Falco warned Wolf, making sure the lupine doesn't push the waters. Literally. Falco walked away intentionally hitting Wolf's shoulder with his. Falco walked away, making sounds of crushing sand. Wolf took a while to process what he said. He was going to go against Falco, no one told him what to do. Fuck that, he'll do as he please. Wolf walked around the Arwing, quickly making eye contact with Fox as he looked away from the vulpine. Wolf approached Panther once more, now with the butt of his cigar in the felines hands. Wolf sat down next to Panther again. Panther was more slouched at the thought of wanting to talk to Krystal once more. He felt like he lost all confidence.

Fox lightly grabbed his leg wincing in pain. He saw a bit of red making a small little dot in the center of the gauze. _Dammit, it's bleeding again. _Fox started to worry once more. Peppy looked at Fox's leg noticing the blood dot getting a bit bigger and bigger. Fox can feel faint. He lost to much blood and he was feeling a bit light-headed. If drowning won't kill Fox, the lack of blood will. Maybe an infection will make its way in. Peppy's eyes opened wide. Just as they were going to kick the bucket. He called Slippy over with the toad, hopping off the wing of the harrier and running to his leader's side. Slippy got down on one knee.

"It looks like you tore one of the temporary stitches I put on you. We'll need to do it again and clamp it. It's going to hurt a lot, Fox.", Slippy explained. Fox tossed his arm around.

"it's alright, Slippy I can take it. Just get the medkit again.", Fox can feel his throat feel less agitated than before from drinking the bottled water. He found it more easier to talk and breath now that some time has passed. Fox tried to keep his head up but the lack of blood was causing his head to slowly fall back more and more. Slippy quickly came back with more supplies. The medkit was large and it had enough supplies to last them a week here if, everyone had just cuts and bruises. Slippy unwrapped Fox's gauze. But he needed help for someone to lift the leg.

"Peppy lift his leg for me," Slippy ordered Peppy. Peppy complied. Peppy wrapped his arm around the vulpines leg slowly raising it, giving Slippy enough room to remove the long gauze. Fox can feel his eyes get heavy.

"Since when did you become doctor, Slippy?", Fox asked the toad. Slippy continued to treat Fox's wound while answering his question.

"While I was in the academy, there were medical classes that I took just in case something would happen. Funny huh? A medic, a mechanical engineer, AND a pilot combined into one? Quite a combination.", Slippy laughed at the last part. Fox was impressed. Slippy was useful, he always wondered why he would get the short end of the stick when fans would meet them at meet-and-greets. Fox could always count on Slippy. But who would replace Slippy in terms of medical knowledge? He took a good look at the wound. The cut was a bit wide, the stitches slowly becoming loose. They were losing the tight grip they had, while Fox was being aided to be carried to the hug log nearby. Slippy reached into his medkit taking out some wires and a weird metal clamp. He noticed some dried blood on the green pants. The blood wasn't stopping and if Slippy didn't stop it soon, Fox would slip away again. This time CPR won't help him this time. Slippy wiped the wound clean once more pouring alcohol, making Fox suck his teeth in pain. Slippy ripped a piece of bark off of the log, he handed it to Fox.

"You might want to bite onto this soon." Slippy gave Fox the piece of bark, while Fox looked a bit confused. He complied anyway. Slippy attached the wire onto the thin needle, pushing it through the vulpine's skin. Fox made sounds of pain. He was off the painkillers but Slippy refused to give him anymore due to how addicting they can be. Slippy carefully pulled out the old wire replacing it with the new one. The gash opened slowly closing once more, inch-by-inch. Once he was finished, Slippy took a pair of medical scissors cutting off the extra wire. Slippy opened up the metal clamp, widening it more and more till it matched the length of the wound. Fox took a quick breath, putting the bark in his mouth. Peppy lowered Fox's legs once more backing away a bit giving him some space. Krystal looked over Slippy's shoulder. Slippy placed the cold metal clamp onto the vulpines pants. Fox clenched his fist. Slippy looked up at Fox. 

"This is going to hold everything in place, and it's going to hurt like a bitch.", Slippy nodded to Fox that he was going to do it. _Slippy is going to do it oh my god. _Fox waited for the pain to arrive. Slippy counted to three.

"1...."

"2...."

"3!"

_*CLAMP* _

A sharp burst of imaginable pain suddenly burst through Fox's thigh, nerves going off at the immense pain they were having. Fox yelped in pain, with it being muffled by the bark he was biting. Wolf heard the yelp and rushed over quickly being stopped by Falco. Wolf was watching from afar but that pain was enough for him to speed walk to Fox. Wolf can feel the wing of the bird press against his chest. Falco and Wolf were mere seconds away from fighting each other. Panther stepped walking past the two. Falco looked at Panther who nonchalantly stood by Krystal. Wolf slapped Falco's hand away, with Wolf ending with it a _don't touch me _stare. Wolf hovered over everyone. Fox was pushing out muffle screams at the pain subsided for a few. Fox took the bark out his mouth taking breaths of air from time to time. Slippy sighed in relief. 

"Looks like there's no blood. Good, let's get this wrapped up. Who's going to help me this time?", Slippy looked back surprised at seeing so many people He really just wanted some space. Then again he would be the last one to voice his opinion. Wolf volunteered. Krystal faced Wolf. Krystal was a bit hesitant but she let the lupine do his thing. Slippy started to feel his hands shake. Slippy took a deep breath, as he saw Wolf slowly lift Fox's leg noticed how gentle he was being. Fox tried to not make eye contact with Wolf. Fox couldn't take his eyes off the nice white hair with the face of the lupine looking a bit concerned. _I never have seen him like this before. It's almost kind of flattering...Damn it, Fox. NO. You have logic now, not your pheromones making the choices. _Slippy slowly wrapped the new fresh gauze over the wound. Slippy finished up cutting off the gauze. He finished up with a bit of tape putting the gauze in place. 

"We won't expose it to air not yet", Slippy got up now a bit sore from sitting one knee. Slippy dusted off the sand from his pants. Slippy grabbed the medkit. "Get some rest Fox, your body will be tired from taking so much pain, your adrenaline will decrease," Slippy advised Fox. Fox felt a bit better but the pain was still there lingering. Peppy got up from the long. 

"We don't really have anywhere to sleep, so everyone make use of what you have. Fox, you want to sleep the Awring I'll sleep outside?", Peppy asked Fox. Fox put his hand up.

"No, you go Peppy. I'll be fine. I don't want to ruin the new stitches again. Better safe than sorry y'know?", Fox pressured Peppy, and eventually Peppy caved in. Peppy wished everyone good night hopping into his Awring closing the cockpit. Fay yawned, holding onto Miyu.

"You want to sleep with me in the Arwing?", Fay asked hoping for a yes. Miyu rolled her shoulders around, relaxing the joints in them.

"I don't know Fay. There's not much room. I'll just hit the hay in the Wolfen", Miyu smiled noticing the disappointment in Fay's eye. She playfully punched her friend in the shoulder. "Ah, you'll be fine." Miyu wished everyone sweet dreams as she jumped into her new ship, closing the cockpit glass, as she starts to sleep. Fay looked at Miyu's Wolfen, then she turned around to walk to her Arwing. She didn't say anything but she nodded to Fox before hitting the hay. Fox slowly pushed himself laying his head on the log looking up at the stars. Falco sat next to him.

"You know, you don't need to watch me. I'll be fine.", Fox smiled at Falco. Falco shook his head.

"No way, Star Wolf is here, he can try to pull something. Go ahead and rest Fox. I'll keep guard.", Falco stared down Wolf. There was so much staring --Jesus Christ. Fox shook his head placing his hand on Falco's leg.

"No Falco get some rest, the harrier is right next to me anyway."

"I can carry you in--", Fox punched Falco in the knee playfully.

"As your leader, I command you to go into the harrier," Fox ordered Falco to do so. He took one more glance as Wolf before hopping into his harrier. Falco didn't close his cockpit though. He covered himself with his now dried jacket. Panther yawned as well, showing off the nice fangs he had. Panther spoke to Wolf.

"I'm heading in. You're gonna stay up?",

"Yea"

"Okay good night"

"Night"

Panther entered his Wolfen pressing a button to lower his cockpit glass. He crossed his arms and trailed off. Slippy rubbed his eyes. He pressed a button switching the Arwing back to it's regular form. He jumped high and landed in his seat. He waved Fox good night. The glass lowered covering Slippy. The toad was out. Krystal decided to sleep underneath her Arwing instead of being in the seat. She hoped Star Wolf wasn't planning anything. She was nearby and had her staff ready to go if Wolf tried something. Krystal approached Fox before heading off.

"You sure you'll be okay?", She asked. Fox smiled at her nodding.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. It's nice and warm out, I won't be shivering.", Fox responded.

Krystal lowered her eyes before grinning at Fox and walked off, making sure to sleep with one eye open tonight.

There was Fox, Wolf and only the stars to accompany them. 


	21. XXI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gotta start writing longer chapters no?

The night was lighted by the stars above, bringing out the constellations of Aquas. Each planet has unique star patterns within the night. Depending on the sightseer, there no repeating patterns within the Lylat System. To see these constellations you'd merely had to travel to specific locations. The ocean breeze, jogged around the settled island of both teams brushing past all of them. The sounds of the ocean, sung as a lullaby to all of the members. Water swooshing back and forth. Nights on Aquas were slow just like the day. A system was implemented for time to be easier between all planets of Lylat. Whether is was good or bad. The waves of Aquas were harmonious in each pulling back and forth of the shore. The sand nice and smooth from hugging the water constantly. The breeze hitting the lupine's face. Wolf was a bit farther from the lupine. After he aided Fox he walked back to sit by the shore. It didn't feel right to him to try and sit next to him. Wolf didn't know why. He wanted to discuss what they were. If they were even a thing. Could they? They were rivals. The only reason that night happened was that they were both stressed...and both happened to meet each other. But ever since that event--Fox was all he thought about. At first he probably wanted to fuck the lupine once more, however the feeling in his chest grew warm, and continued to burn bright as the campfire behind him. Peppy was snoring and out like a light. Slippy humming quietly. His breath calm and collected. Since the harrier was drained of water, Falco was snoring loudly all nice and cozy in his seat. Fox had to endure the loud lip slaps and muttering from Falco. Even from such a distance the lupine can't help but chuckle here and there from the bird's in sleep talking. Wolf was near finishing his cigar. He flicked off into the water, hearing the sssssss when it dumped into the water. Krystal was tossing and turning. She couldn't fall asleep as easy as she wanted to be. After all, she was under the wing of her vehicle. The sand was seeping into her clothes. She wondered why she even bothered to do this. Krystal turned to the thought if Wolf would try anything, she was right there. Her mind was running rampant. She felt Wolf wasn't planning anything, but at the same time wanted to try something. Krystal couldn't shake off the feeling. Fay was using her jacket as a blanket. Miyu crossed her arms as she was sleeping. Wolf, Fox and in a way Krystal were the only ones up.

_I can't believe he just walked off like that. He didn't even sit right next to me. _Fox thought to himself. Fox was fiddling with his fingers. He felt bad for yelling at the lupine earlier. Fox bit his lip, figuring out how to call the lupine back. He wasn't in the wrong though. Wolf did do a stupid decision. But hearing that he needed the money...Wolf was all too prideful. He wouldn't turn to Fox begging for money. That wasn't him. Fox sat up again, sitting straight up. His eyes were getting a bit heavy, but not too much. Fox called out to the lupine.

"So uh....you want to come back over?", Fox raised his voice a bit, but not too much as to wake anybody up. Wolf slightly turned his head. Fox saw a slight body movement. Fox smiled a bit but not seeing the lupine turning around. Wolf turned to look in his original direction. Fox perked down his ears. He felt some boots crushed some sand, causing him to look up and see the lupine walked back to the vulpine. Wolf sat down right next to Fox. Wolf turned to look into the green and emerald eyes of the vulpine shining beautiful in the moonlight. Wolf laid back onto the log.

"How's your leg?", Wolf asked. He saw the nice white gauze patented nicely on the vulpines leg. The toad had skill. Wolf felt the cool breeze brush against his arms. Fox chuckled a bit.

"Hurts a bit, but it's better now. Hopefully, I'll feel better in the morning", Fox responded. Fox looked into the crimson eyes of his rival. Fox had to think for a moment. Was Wolf his rival anymore? At least for now. Wolf wasn't on the wrong side of the law. However now that Wolf did what he did, Fox wasn't sure what will happen. Maybe nobody needed to know. But for the moment. He wanted to spend the time he had with Wolf.

"Wolf?", Fox asked with a bit of hesitation. Wolf looked at Fox. 

"Yeah?", Wolf replied.

"I wanted to apologize for yelling at you earlier. I didnt--", Fox got interrupted.

"Save your breath, I don't want to hear it." Wolf waved his handoff. "It happens that's all.",Wolf added.

Fox wasn't going anyway with this. The time he had was limited. Maybe Wolf was fed up with his antics. He wasn't sure if Wolf felt like he was used. After all, he did feel terrible. Maybe if he didn't text Wolf, he didn't have to feel the feelings he did when---

When he met Wolf at the academy years before. All the memories flooded back wave after wave. Everything was running so quick in his mind.

________________________________

_Fox's POV_

_It was my first year at the Cornerian Flight Academy, prepping for one of the classes I was going to take. It was Quantum III. I was never huge in math really. I did my best, but I couldn't keep up. I had to use the office hours from my professor to catch up from time to time. These classes were pre-req I had to take them regardless. Ever since dad died I was forced into this kind of world so quickly. Peppy raised me like his own flesh and blood. At first, it was difficult adjusting to his way of life. But It grew on me. It wasn't soon after I met Slippy Toad. The small little guy was ordering a quick soup to go. We met in Quantum III and it clicked. As in friends I mean. First-year was difficult and living on my own. I was used to just walking down seeing Peppy but this time I was surrounded by people my age. At the time Corneria was facing a hidden threat. Something I wasn't aware of up, but I knew many agents from Corneria were eyeing me. At the time I was only 18. I didn't have time to date or anything really. Slippy and I were chilling in one of the courtyards The Conerian Flight Academy had. Slippy finished his soup during class and he tossed the garbage in a trash can nearby. It was near one of the entrances to the Academy. Somewhere after 4:00 pm is where things got busy. Foot traffic increase and everyone either wanted to go home or relax before taking the night classes. I was on my phone. It was brand new. Peppy had bought me it before heading in. My own one was dying quickly, and sometimes even rebooted on me in the worst of times. _

_I never really took the time to consider who I was or what I wanted. After my dad's death, I guess my path was carved already. I inherited his skills and no one flew better during the simulations than I did. Slippy was reading from one of his books. A thick and heavy book he hauled around in one of these classes. I always went light. Today was also sort of an after orientation. It was set to be in one of the huge green fields. It started around 7:00 back when the sun stood up high and mighty. This was usually for first years but upperclassmen could visit and show the new generations the ropes. I didn't really have anyone other than Slippy and I didn't want to feel clingy already. _

_"So you thinking of heading to the event?", Slippy asked me while still invested in his book. _

_I was playfully fiddling with my phone while trying to come up with an answer. I choose one of the obvious choices. _

_"I want to make some connections and open up my social circle. You want to tag along with me?", I curved the reply into a question. Slippy looked up nodding with a smile. I looked at the time at my phone. 6:30 pm. I stood up stretching. We were sitting here for a while. I didn't want to miss the good stuff. When I mean by good stuff, I mean the little free things they give out to people who arrive early. My neck was getting tired from my head peering down so much at my phone. _

_"Let's get going. We don't want to miss out!", I tapped Slippy on the shoulder. I pulled on his collar right after. Slippy took a breath, closing his book, before stuffing it in his bag. We headed over to the green field. There was a large white text, I could see some small snacks and food. There was even bottled water, cans of soda and a punch bowl. My stomach growled just from my eyes looking at it. I didn't get a chance to eat lunch so this was the perfect opportunity. Slippy was looking around seeing marvelous creations and inventions. He was like a kid in a candy shop. I was trying to find something that piqued my interest. When I saw someone....._

_He had grey fur and a dense beige jacket. His white, Mohawk like hair trailing over his head, and a large tail. My eyes suddenly were locked onto it. He was helping a mechanic with one of their machines. The thing was a bit huge I admit but my mouth dropped at how handsome he was. I started to walk a bit closer, losing Slippy in the crowd that was forming quickly. My tail swooshed from left to right in a frenzy. My chest tightened at just looking at him. The lupine didn't see me, but he was looking for a blueprint on a table. His fit and muscular build. My jaw dropped in how sharp his muzzle was. He had a black eyepatch over his eye, so he was an instant badass in my book. He felt mysterious, but charming and alluding from a first glance. And that especially that waist! I gulped and took a walk forward now entering his line of sight. He looked up locking eyes with me. _

_"What? You're early. What is it?", He asked with hostility in his voice. My heart quickly rushed itself. I struggled to find words. _

_"Oh? Sorry I saw this cool thing you guys were working with and I wanted to ask what this big robotic fella is." I mentally high five myself for pulling out such a quick answer. The lupine squinted his only eye as if he was trying to read me. A leopard popped up from beneath it. _

_"This guy is called the LI.90 an arachnid-like a weapon. It's still in its prototype phase, but it's coming along nicely." I looked at the leopard, smiling. _

_"That's so cool! Is there going to be some sort of presentation here of some sort?", I asked. The lupine spoke instead. _

_"Yeah. You need to wait for a bit longer. We're busy for now", I was taken back a bit the rudeness from him. I didn't mind. Or at least my brain would have told me to move on. My heart, on the other hand, wanted more. I kept noticing his dark crimson eye piercing through me. My back shivered a bit. The lupine crossed his arms tapping his foot. _

_"What's your name?", I asked. He responded._

_"Wolf. Wolf O Donnell. Third-year. And yours?", I smiled. _

_"Fox. Fox Mccloud. I'm first" _

_______________________________________

Fox broke his memory lane seeing the fire slowly begin to die out. The logs were reaching their end of being able to support the fire. Fox turned to Wolf seeing his concentration out in the waters. He remembered how he fell for him. The day at the Academy when they first met, Fox was just head over heels with him at first glance. Now Fox knows why his chest felt so different at the bar. It was the same exact feeling he had. It wasn't the battles they had or the arguments they exchanged between comms. It was that. Fox felt the warm feeling rise in his chest again. What were they at the bar? Fuck buddies? No. Fox wanted more than that. He didn't know how to admit it.

"Wolf?", Fox asked

Wolf broke his mysterious concentration and turned to face the lupine.

"What?", Wolf wished he asked for another cigar before Panther headed off to be in his Wolfen.

"Why did you vanish from the academy? Remember when we first met?", Fox tried to think of the times when things were peaceful. When they both didn't try to kill each other. It was Wolf's turn.

"I...had my reasons. I left because at the time it just wasn't for me. And yes I do remember when we met. The day at the fair.", Wolf rubbed his left ear.

The day at the fair

_____________________________________

_Wolf's POV_

_I didn't want to be here. I just wanted to be at my favorite bar, not trying to help this leopard with this machine. It looked stupid. I wasn't even that good at engineering anyway. I can't believe my shitty professor forced us to be here for participation points. I dug in my left pocket, trying to feel for my cigarette pack. Nope, it was just my old phone. I proceeded to check my right. Nope, that was my wallet. Actually how much do I have left? I pulled it out. My ears sunk in but I cursed at myself. I only had $30 in my wallet. It wouldn't be enough for the week. I would get paid until next week for my campus job. Fucking bullshit. I checked all my pockets in my jacket. I only found my lighter. I put my hand in one of the back pockets. Oh my fucking god, where the hell is this shitty carton? I gave up eventually. This was my third year at the academy. The only reason I got in was due to my skills as a pilot for the entrance exam. I bombed the paper exam so I made up for it with the simulation exam. I know right? It was weird. I used the financial aid I got and the large inheritance from my father and brother to get in. Dad wasn't around anymore and neither was Patroklos. I didn't even know my mom. She died before I can even learn her name. Dad never went into the details. I still have some of the scars he inflicted upon me during training. I got too greedy in being able to eat anything I wanted. I never got the privilege of that at home. Or whenever he took me and Patroklos on his missions. Other than that, I never really told anyone who I was or my background. Not even which way I swung. _

_"Wolf", the leopard called out. I turned my head to face him. _

_"Yeah?", I responded._

_"Take a look at the blueprint I feel like, I'm missing something. Take a look for me please? ", he asked. I silently looked at the blue paper on one of the tables we set up. I was busy trying to figure out what all this shit meant. Until a young and spirited voice. The voice raised my ears up. I looked up to see an orange fox with green eyes. He gave off a warm smile. My eye opened up at how skinny he was. He was so young most likely a couple of years younger than I am. I did prefer them young after all. But he was different from the other ones I had. His tail swooshed playfully and his muzzle was cute. My eye was moving it's way up and down his body. He was stunning. My mouth sort of opened a bit. He asked about what we were doing. I didn't feel like answering his questions. Slowly I just felt something come over me. He wasn't cute._

_He was fucking handsome. _

_He asked for my name. I said, Wolf. I asked for him. He said his name was Fox. I was two years above him. _

_"Well, Fox how are finding this place?', I asked trying to get him to talk more._

_"I-its been a hassle and I've been sort of getting lost.", I gave off a smirk. Ah this was my chance. A way to get away from this stand and get to know him. _

_"Why don't I show you around? You won't be lost with me around."_

_Fox gave a huge smile, but I can see some red underneath._

_He was blushing. _

___________________________________________

Wolf gave off a smile with a chuckle. He turned to face Fox who was looking better already. Fox rubbed the back of his head, feeling the headgear he still had on. Fox started to take it off. It was getting uncomfortable. Wolf scooched a bit closer trying to come close to the vulpine. They were both attracted to each other, even before the wars had begun. But for feelings to last so long was rare. Wolf thought he can just move on and forget about him. Everything was good until meeting him in battle. Leaving the academy without telling him. Wolf at the time thought it would be painless. He even got a new phone and changed his number. Wolf internally cringed at his younger self's actions. If he could only travel back in time to punch the shit out of himself. Wolf looked at the vulpine's appearance. He was more built, and his thighs packed on some meat. At the bar, it flushed back. Everything.

"I remember. You were skinnier than usual.", Wolf remarked on Fox's past appearance. Fox playfully shook his head.

"Yeah, you showed me around. Months later I remember when I was asked about which building appeared in that movie with the angels? The two girls wanted to know where the Chrysler building was?", Fox smiled at the lupine. "Then you came in and mouthed off like the cocky bitch you were saying it was the Hive building, which was taller.", Wolf punched the vulpines' shoulder.

"Pup, I said that the Chrysler building was in that movie of that lizard with spikes. I forgot the name of the movie. But it was an amazing movie, death, and destruction, everywhere I loved it.", Wolf responded. Wolf felt the same way he did when they were hanging out at the academy. It felt good. His cares and the mission left his mind. Just reminiscing the days when they first met.

"By the time we finished, our first debate, the two girls vanished. We argued all the way to the Omen Skyscraper.", Wolf can feel those good times flood back. He gave off a smirk. Fox hoisted himself closer to the lupine.

"We waited a bit to take the elevator. We got to the top of the floor. I can still feel the night breeze run across my fur. It was chilly and I got cold.I felt bad for leaving Slippy behind, hehe", Fox flicked off some sand on his pants. "You gave me your jacket," Fox added. Wolf continued to finish the vulpines sentence.

"And that was when we just looked at each other. Your lips still feel soft from that night. Thought I was gonna suck all the breath out of you. ", that causes the redness to rise up in the vulpines ears. Fox looked at the ocean hearing the whooshing of the water. Fox was seeing Wolf now. No more Lord O Donnell. It was Wolf. But a softer side of him. Even tough guys like him can show a much more comforting side.

"That was our first date but..Why didn't tell me you were leaving? I-I was pissed. I tried texting and calling you! But...but you just ignored me! You disappeared on me!", Fox felt his anger rise once more. Wolf can feel the body language shift and the air tense up. Wolf sighed and facepalmed. He wasn't trying to start any bullshit.

"I left for a reason. I thought if I did what I did, then I wouldn't suffer instead of just calling it quits. Even then you were still in the closet and you STILL were we met again at the bar.", Wolf tried to explain himself. Fox's mouth dropped open. What a low blow

"Bullshit Wolf, I-I....fucking hell, what you did--was unacceptable. Damn it Wolf not even a goodbye. I mean what are we? We have the opportunity to-- "

Wolf rolled around placing his hand across the vulpines body. He was facing Fox face-to-face. Their muzzles just centimeters away. Fox felt the redness in his cheeks rise high, making him bright as tomato. Wolf grabbed Fox's head, making the distance from their muzzles 0. He leaned forward, smashing his lips against Foxs. Fox's eyes widened but slowly closed, feeling the warm breath, and feeling his troubles go away._ The seductive Wolf wins another one on Fox once more._ They continued for a few more seconds, trying to gain dominance over each others mouths with their tongues. Wolf broke the kiss, leaving Fox to gasp for air.

"We don't have to tell anyone."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this is surprising.Looks like this chapter soothed your Fox and Wolf times together. Been a couple of chapters since it happened. Well see ya next time! Be sure to leave your thoughts and opinions. I think I made them too soft. What do you guys think?  
(o_o)> peace....
> 
> Also one more chapter to end this arc!


	22. XXII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to give you some music to go with this chapter! Go ahead try it and see how it is!  
[ Here!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPOAEApP8SI&feature=youtu.be)  
Yep Im a SC fan alright

Fox looked at Wolf confusingly. He wasn't sure how to process, what he did other than the kiss. Fox worried a bit. How would the team react to him secretly dating Wolf? If Fox was dating anyone else than, they wouldn't mind--but Wolf? To them, he was still their rival but the terms were still foggy. Fox wanted more from Wolf. They never sealed the deal back at the academy other than feelings rising for each other. However, Fox couldn't bear the thought of losing Wolf again. Even if Wolf was the one that left him. Falco knew he who he was. Krystal just read his mind--he couldn't hide anything from her, no matter how hard he tried. Fox tried to regain himself.

_Damn it, Fox, what if he pulls the same shenanigans again? What if he is just using me to satisfy that horny beast inside him? No, Wolf wouldn't go so low as that. I don't even know anymore, that kiss is throwing me off. What does he want? What do I want? I want to continue things further before everything went to shit. Alright, you know what? We'll see how everything goes. This will be a brand new start. _

Wolf looked at the rising cheat of the vulpine. He observed Fox's body language. He can see the mixture of doubt and want in his rival's eyes. Wolf smirked a bit, raising a paw to message the vulpines cheek. He can feel the smooth fur glide along with his fingers almost like a blanket. Fox closed his eyes but feeling his cheeks heat up a bit. Fox put his paw on top of Wolf's taking deep breaths, finally being able to relax. Fox purred a bit (though he wasn't sure how he could even do that in the first place) before opening his eyes. The lupines glowing crimson eye just giving such a passionate stare. Fox lowered Wolf's paws. 

"Wolf....I'm still feeling a bit off. We can talk about this later when I'm feeling better and being able to walk. We still have plenty of hours to sleep before dawn rises. The fire is almost out, it'd be better to get some rest now. We have a big day tomorrow.", Fox saw the lupines ear twitch. Wolf took a quick sigh before returning to his original position. He spoke without making contact with Fox.

"Pup...I know you still hold a grudge against me for just leaving you behind like that, while you still were struggling with who you are. So I'm--", Wolf held his mouth open for a bit. It wasn't like him of this to be so sensitive and sentimental like this. He almost despised himself for it. No one else can make him like this but only the vulpine. It was almost some sort of sign for him. He never believed in the fate of destiny. That was all superstition. If he wanted Fox for real this time. He would have to work for it.

"eh...Sorry..", Wolf said the last word a bit muffled but Fox was able to make that last bit. His heart paced a bit faster before giving a weak smile. Fox didn't know he needed to hear that, so it felt nice. Fox reached over, wrapping his arms around Wolf's shoulders, with Fox's chest on Wolf's back. He felt the back of the lupine raise up and down. Wolf had his eye widened a bit. Wolf let it slide.

"Usually everyone is trying to kill me left and right. Sometimes I get despised by other pilots for being so good and even getting the special treatment back on Corneria. You're a nice change of pace. I wanted to hate you. In the end, I couldn't bring myself to. But starting tomorrow, let's focus on the future. For now, let's sleep.", Fox buried his muzzle into the lupine's neck. He felt the hairs stand up on Wolf. He smiled. He let go before laying against the log once more. Wolf turned back. He didn't know how to feel. He took off the jacket he still had on before laying it on the log, acting as a pillow. Fox laid his leg once again on the log. Both making eye contact. Fox smiled to Wolf before, fading off in a deep sleep.

Who knows where this will lead? Only time will tell.

__________________________________________________

Fox felt a bright light hitting his eyelids. He tossed and turned a bit before finally succumbing to what was internally blinding him. He slowly opened his eyes, wiping the crust that forms in the crevices of them. He felt a warm shine of the sun hitting his body and clothes warming him like he was toast. Fox turned to no longer see the lupine next to him. He stretched a bit. He couldn't move his legs as much as he wanted to. That clamp really made it impossible to move his leg. He twisted his waist a bit hearing some popping sounds in his spine. He gasped for air as that felt really good. He yawned seeing his sharp fangs show themselves. Fox's fangs never really showed themselves as often as Wolf's. His was a bit smaller but he could inflict some damage with. The waves were much brighter than usual. The water was happy in a way. Fox felt a shadow tower over him. He snapped out of sleep state seeing Falco hover over him. He looked up. Fox gave a smile.

"Falco! Good morning. How'd you sleep?", Fox folded the one knee that was free from anything. Falco still rubbed his eyes. Falco shrugged his shoulders.

"That sun sure is bright on Aquas. Even brighter than on Corneria. It's a shame how violent the waters can be. I wish I could have grown up here in a sense." Falco yawned trying messing up his sentence a bit. Fox sat up feeling his leg with less pain as usual. Fox heard some sounds coming from Falco's harrier. He looked past Falco seeing Slippy underneath is fixing the insides.

"That thing must be fried due to the water. How does Slippy do it?", Fox faced back to Falco asking him that question.

"I don't know. He managed to get the majority of it working." Falco responded, "How did you sleep?", he asked.

"I slept pretty well. What about you?" Falco rolled his shoulders around making them loose. Falco was a bit tense. The harrier had two seats in them. Usually, he would recline in his Arwing since that's what they came with, unlike the harriers. He didn't have much room to roll around or even stretch. Fighter jets like these weren't made for sleeping, they were made for combat. Falco rubbed his beak a bit looking out in the bright blue water to be at a still point. Falco felt a bit lighter without his blaster. Fox turned the other direction to see Fay and Miyu walking along the water, digging through stand while crouching.

"What's with those two?" Fox asked.

"They are just digging through the sand, looking for shells to take back. Like a souvenir. Well I guess you can call it that. You were out for a while. Peppy is the last one that needs to wake up. I checked on him earlier. He's alright. Nothing is wrong. I think his heart is back to normal. That was too much of a close call. I think we're going to have Peppy abstain from more of our missions.", Falco said

Fox didn't think twice to disagree. Falco was right after all. Peppy was getting older and even though his mind is in it to win it, his heart wanted none of it. Fox felt like Peppy did his job already in raising Fox, taking him under his wing and guiding the vulpine along the way. Peppy was no longer able to be in combat for more than a few minutes when facing someone else. His stamina was low already and yet the hare still pushes forward. Fox admired that perseverance but that was going to get him killed.

"You're right. I think Peppy is going to sit the next one out. He's old now, he just won't accept it.", Fox rubbed his muzzle bit. He swore he was sleeping next to Wolf. Fox perked his head up looking for the lupine but there was no sight of him. Fox rubbed his head flicking some sand from his fur. Fox hoisted himself onto the log, letting his bandage knee bend a little. He was getting a bit of a cramp from just let it lay straight. He felt the leg go numb from time-to-time. Falco sat next to Fox. Falco squinted at the vulpine with the vulpine making an awkward laugh.

"You're perkier than usual. By the way, Wolf didn't try anything did he?", Falco rested his beak onto his hand.

"Yeah, he didn't try anything. He just went straight into his Wolfen", Fox pointed to Wolf's ship. _Did he though?_ Fox thought to himself. Falco looked to where the Wolfen was parked. He nodded ever so slightly.

"Fox...Are you SURE?", Falco emphasized the sure word. Fox gulped a bit, trying to not show any indication of what he and Wolf did last night. Fox waved his hands in a way to indicate cancellation and denied he was ever doing anything.

"I'm sure, Falco. I appreciate you looking out for me", Fox was grateful to have Falco on his side. The bird hit a low point in his life, and luckily Fox was there to save him. Maybe in a way, Falco was still trying to--in a way repay Fox for saving him. Falco took a long sigh but gave the vulpine a smile.

"Well, it's good to know you made it through the night. How's your leg?", He asked. Fox firmly pressed his hand upon his bandage. He wasn't sure if he wanted to take it off. He wanted to let the wound breath. Though Slippy would be against it. _Slippy. That's right! It shouldn't be too hard to ask. _

"Slip-pppppyy!", Fox called out the toads' name. Slippy stopped his work on the harrier. He ducked down a bit to make eye contact with his leader. He had a wrench in his hand.

"Yeah?"

"Can you come over and take this thing off?", Fox asked, rubbing his leg while asking Slippy. Slippy groaned. He walked over, wrench in hand getting on one knee before taking a look at it. Slippy put the wrench down and began to look at the gauze.

"Well, it's not bleeding. I guess we can let it breathe for a while before, applying new stuff on. I have a healing gel that should let the wound heal a bit faster. Other than that, you'll need real medical treatment. Slippy lightly jogged back to his Arwing, hopping into his seat before pulling out the huge medical case once more. While Fox was waiting for Slippy to come back, a grey figure appeared from the corner of his eye. He turned to his left to see Wolf from a distance talking to Panther. He wasn't sure what they were talking about but they look engaged in conversation. He saw a blue figure appear in front of him. He was taken aback by the sudden appearance but it was Krystal. She bends down smiling.

"Good to see you're awake. How are you feeling?", Krystal chuckled. She was happy to see Fox up and at em. Her mind still a bit unable to rest. She didn't how to confront Fox on what she saw but when the time was right she would. Fox chuckled lightly.

"I'm alive and that's all that matters to me at the moment.", Fox raised his arms to stretch them. The sand wasn't the most ideal place of sleeping but Fox didn't mind. Not after what happened last night.

Slippy finally came back setting the case down. He had Krystal lift us his leg, while he started unwrapping the gauge around his leg. It took a while since Slippy doubled the amount from the last time. Because of that blood flow in Fox's leg was a bit more restricted. Fox felt like his leg fell off since it would go numb from time to time. He didn't like the idea of walking around with one metal leg or even two metal legs. It would look creepy and a bit of himself gone. Slippy finished unwrapping the gauze seeing small dry bits of blood with each layer gone. The last piece of gauze was a bit stuck. He pulled it off, making Fox yelp a bit. Slippy tossed it aside. The clamp had done its thing. The stitches were tightly secured. The air hitting Fox's wound eased his irritation. The wound was thankful for being exposed to air. Slippy took the clamp off, now that it was stained with the vulpines blood. Slippy put the clamp in a small quarantine case. He set it aside. He pressed hit hands firm against it.

"That hurt?", Slippy waited for his leader's response.

"N-No. Not as much as before. Nice work Slippy!", Fox praised the toad for his actions. And yet people still hated him for no reason.

Slippy began to take out a light blue gel in a condense bottle. He shook it a bit before opening the cap. He squeezed a bit of out, before lightly putting it on the wound.

"Fox rub this over your wound. You'll feel a nice cooling sensation. The wound should be numb and heal faster. I think you'll be able to move now. Or at least that's my guess.", Slippy stood up fixing everything back into the case before taking off. Krystal got on both knees looking back the green scenery behind them. Fox took his finger and felt how cold the gel was. He spread it through his wound and on the other side of his leg as well. Stitches were present there too. He can feel the effect of the gel happen quickly. Fox took a breath to feel how good it was. Krystal looked past Fox in an alarming state. Fox noticed Krystal's alert phase.

"What's wrong?", Fox asked Krystal. Krystal put her finger up, silencing him. She whispered quietly

"We're being watched.", Krystal slowly stood up to get her staff. She signaled everyone to be on guard. Krystal looked at Fay and Miyu. Both girls noticed the tense situation and pulled out their blasters slowly. Their feet still in the water. The coldness brushing against their ankles. Slippy pulled out his blaster. He was using his Arwing as cover. Peppy was still out like a light. However, only Panther and Wolf didn't seem to mind. Krystal can hear some leaves and bushes brushing. Whoever was hiding was doing a poor job. It's like they wanted to be caught. But the footsteps were two light. They weren't heavy. Krystal started to analyze what she was hearing.

_Light steps..hmm...They are young. Probably younger than we thought. They move quick. Much faster than an adult. Could it be a child? Wait I heat multiple steps. Two children? _

Krystal gripped her staff. She called out.

"You're outnumbered! Come out please!", Krystal shouted. Krystal was known for her combat skills, interrogation using her powers and being the mental health support person. She wasn't a person who can intimidate another being. Krystal was being goofy in way unintentionally though. Krystal can hear whispering between two unknown people. Their voices were a bit higher. It looks like, if these were children have not to experience the teen stage. Krystal can see pale blue but glossy skin appears from certain spaces in the leaves and bushes. Krystal squinted his eyes a bit before the two figures showed themselves. They were none other than small sharks. Two younglings. Everyone was a bit flabbergasted. Sharks? They were certainly a rare sight to see. Anthro sharks haven't been spotted for centuries. No one could make of this situation. Krystal lowered her staff before relaxing it in her hands. They were just children. They retreated a bit taking cover behind a huge palm tree. Fox smiled.

"Hi! It's okay don't be scared! My name is Fox Mccloud.", Fox reassured the younglings. Both looked at each deciding whether or not it was the right move to make. One of them stepped out of cover, head in their shoulders. Krystal went down to the child's eye level. She gave off a grin.

"Hello! My name is Krystal! What is yours?", She asked. Falco was stunned. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. A shark? An anthro one. Falco never believed he would see one. It was mostly birds, foxes, wolves, rabbits the simple stuff. But sharks were so rare, no one would think they would still be around. Wolf and Panther looked back at one another.

"Sharks--makes sense we're on Aquas after all.", Wolf started walking up to the group with Panther falling suite.

"I read in the domains that they went extinct. After all, Corneria was a water-like planet before it had land produced and Venom was a barren wasteland until Andross civilized it. Macbeth had no record of it and Zoness it out of the question." Panther whispered into the lupine's ear. Wolf stood next to Fox who was still sitting on the log with his leg gaining a bit more mobility. They made eye contact for a couple of seconds but they broke it. Panther noticed the unusual behavior with both of them. He thought of it as nothing more than one trying to be the alpha as males tend to do. A silly contest.

"M-Mako. Name Mako", The shark spoke. He seemed to understand what Krystal was saying in a way. The vixen was surprised that the shark was able to understand her. A child out here would probably though she was speaking some sort of unknown language. The other youngling stepped out. They were brothers. It seems the one that spoke was the older one while the other was the little one. Falco walked up to the little one.

"Alright pal, what's yours? The names Falco!", Falco gave off a smile; throwing a big thumbs up. The little one stepped back a bit but warmed up to the bird.

"Name...Indra", The little one went behind his older brothers back. Mako threw a hand in front of Indra. Mako was still a bit shy. He took a look at each of the members. He saw how Fox had his leg injured and was trying to stand. Krystal gave off a nice smile, easing Mako. Mako turned his sight to see two other females off in the distance. But one of them was running to them.

"OH MY GOD, THEY ARE SO CUTE!", Fay squeaked a bit with Miyu throwing up hand trying to get her to slow down. Fay was quickly face-to-face with Mako. Mako gasped a bit walking away. Fay put her hands up trying to tell them she meant no harm.

"I'm Fay. I'm a good girl!", Fay gave off a big grin. Indra tugged on his brother's waistband talking to him in their language. Krystal didn't know what they were talking about so she did some quick little diving.

_Brother, can we go? Please! The grey creature is scaring me!_

_I know Indra, but we must know who are they. They battled Ebirah! The tribe wants to speak with them!_

_What if they are mean? The great warrior in the sky with the sword damaged Ebirah!_

_Nonsense. I can feel they are good. Trust me little one!_

_Mako..._

Krystal giggled to herself. They were scared of Wolf. Krystal looked at lupine who had his arms crossed. Wolf twitched his ear looking behind him seeing if she was looking at anyone else. Nope, she had his sights on him. She turned to face the boys.

"It okays! This man is called Wolf. He may look scary but he's not a bad guy!", Krystal raised her hand guided them to Wolf. Wolf grunted a bit. He wasn't good with dealing with kids. The lupine had none of his own but times like these, he just scared them off. Usually, little kids wanted to act tough with people like Wolf, but they always pissed their pants. Fox tugged on his jacket. Wolf put it back on went he woke up. Fox felt sort of small from where he was sitting. He didn't need to worry, soon his leg will help him sort of meet the same height at the lupine.

"Wolf, let them know you mean no harm!", Wolf looked down at Fox with those green eyes of his. Dammit, those eyes were gorgeous. It was like he was falling under a spell with those eyes every time. The tables turned in a way. The spellcaster gets his own trick pulled on him. Ironic. Wolf sighed letting his shoulders fall. Wolf raised his head trying to be at least decent.

"Hey. My name is Wolf.", Wolf grinned, but he did it too wide letting his teeth show, bright white teeth and some fangs protruding. The siblings gasped a bit before hiding behind Krystal. Wolf lowered his ears in annoyance. Everyone laughed a bit. Wolf groaned in irritation. Panther placed his hand on his leader's shoulder.

"Don't be offended Wolf, I mean you ARE the Big Bad Wolf!", Panther chuckled lightly. Wolf pulled his shoulder away from the feline. Fox looked at the siblings.

"Who are you guys? Where did you come from?", He asked.

The siblings looked at one another, both a bit hesitant to answer. Indra clenched his brothers' waistband wanting to leave badly. Mako insisted they stayed. Mako carefully pointed a finger to one of the volcanoes that were two islands away. They were sharks, they can swim from island to island. Both teams looked in the direction Mako was pointing in.

Mount Kotula the great inactive volcano.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well it looks like we're at the end of Part 2! I'm going to be taking a bit of break. In the meantime let me know how the story went! I'm not sure what you guys think so I would love to hear from you guys! Feedback is welcomed.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! It's been a crazy ride so far hasn't it? Let me know what you think of each chapter! Constructive criticism is welcomed. If there are any mistakes or details I overlooked please do tell me! Its been really fun writing this story. But it's not over yet! There is still so much to do and write! Once I finish up this arc I'll probably take a quick break from all of this. Remember feel free to give your thoughts to each chapter!


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